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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130473">The House of Empty Seats</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsbridgeArts/pseuds/FiredancerAtrea'>FiredancerAtrea (LightsbridgeArts)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 03:07:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,589</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130473</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsbridgeArts/pseuds/FiredancerAtrea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six years after a Demigod tried to collapse the Three Worlds the inhabitants of each hesitantly begin a peace treaty to prevent further damage. </p>
<p>Karin Kurosaki, an apprentice Shinigami and university student, is working for Urahara in Karakura Town one summer when an accident in Hueco Mundo lands an impossible object right in their laps. As a result, the ever-volatile Grimmjow is sent to the Human World by Lorde Harribel to guard and look after that object until it can be safely returned but is put into a bad mood when he learns Karin's elder brother Ichigo is off on vacation. All bets are off when certain parties, uneasy with the peace treaty, catch wind something major is going on in Hueco Mundo, something major enough that they are able to convince the ruling bodies of Soul Society that an old enemy's plans may not be done yet.... and that they need to keep an eye on a certain (in)famous orange-haired wildcard.</p>
<p>Will peace hold or will yet another world-shattering war begin?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Abrirse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A big thanks to Rayvenstorm over on the OG Grimmichi server for beta-ing this fic so far!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Karakura Town was a sleepy bit of suburban sprawl out west of Tokyo Prefecture. A sprawl far enough out of the way that whatever tourists happened by were usually the quiet kind interested in nature walks through the surrounding hills, photographing old trail-side shrines.</p><p>So many twisted ankles.</p><p>Somewhere more remote would have been preferable to make a home but then the Kurosaki Family Clinic wouldn't have been quite as successful as it needed to be, not with three kids. Masaki also had family in the area. Tight knit as they all were moving very far hadn't been an option.</p><p>Isshin flipped the interior clinic lock ending the shortest commute home on record.</p><p>Masaki was still in her dove patterned scrubs, leaning on her elbows over the back of the couch. She'd let her hair get long over the years till it fell in cascading amber waves over her shoulders without some kind of scrunchy holding it back.</p><p>Isshin tiptoed up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. He rested his chin against Masaki's shoulder, taking a peek at what had her smiling this time.</p><p>The kids had made themselves a little pillow fort on the couch complete with a blanket rooftop, all three passed out snuggled up to one another. From what Isshin could see, Yuzu was chewing on the ear of her stuffed bunny while Karin had worked herself into what should have been a fairly uncomfortable contortion. Ichigo was sprawled on his back between the two, drooling, his normal mess of marigold-orange hair even more unruly. They were far too adorable for the trio of screeching hell-beasts Isshin had heard earlier with a patient.</p><p>Masaki hummed to herself, casting a glance back at him just as something tapped against his cheek.</p><p>“Tuckered themselves out fighting over Daddy's <em> bubblegum. </em>” </p><p>Isshin winced, looking at the package of Nicorette. “I left it with my keys again, didn't I?”</p><p>“Mmmm-hmm,” she nodded sagely, “and I've got a favour if you want back in my good graces.” </p><p>For a moment Isshin imagined “favour” being the kind where he was on the hook for finding a sitter. It had been a while since the two of them had been able to have an evening to themselves. The look on Masaki's face eventually clued him in that it was an actual favour she was about to ask.</p><p>“Darlin' you've got a blank cheque when it comes to favours,” he kissed her cheek, “but I <em> am </em> sorry for not being more careful.”</p><p>“Ryuken called the clinic today,” Masaki had her finger on his lips before he could say anything, “his little boy is about to start school and needs a physical. I said I'd ask you about it.”</p><p>Once she removed her finger Isshin made a face. “Figured he'd get that done at the hospital. Have one of his doctors sign off on it if he's worried about impropriety.”</p><p>“True, and he would. This is...more a favour for his father.” Masaki turned in his embrace to have her arms loose around his neck.</p><p>“He and his old man are finally talking? That's a shock.” He glanced over to the kids to see them still asleep, whispering “or is this Quincy business?”</p><p>“Sort of,” Masaki admitted. “Grandpa Sōken doesn't know about you...not the details. Ryuken had to tell him something after the whole...eh... hole incident.” She shrugged. “So now he just thinks you're an exile for helping one of us and wants a meeting. Something about big ideas.”</p><p>He blinked dumbly, “oh, Honey, I'm gonna have to know a <em> lot </em> more details if I'm going to be keeping up <em> that </em> old ruse.”</p><p>“Not just a meeting with you, with Kisuke too, if he'll agree.”</p><p>“I'm going to run up against that world-class Ishida Family stubbornness if I refuse aren't I?”</p><p>“Most likely... Kurosaki too. Besides,” Masaki grinned and leaned in close to continue the game of conspiratorial whispers. “Grandpa Sōken is big on the idea of Shinigami and Quincy working together and Uryu can meet his cousins finally. Poor thing is going to be as stuffy as his father if he doesn't have the chance to fool around with some <em> misbehaving </em> kids.” </p><p>“Well, can't have <em> that </em> now can we?” Isshin chuckled quietly. “So it's just Grandpa Sōken and Uryu then?” </p><p>Her grip on his shoulders tightened suddenly, gaze flicking towards the window.</p><p>“Masaki?”</p><p>Isshin looked that way as well, not that he expected to see anything. </p><p>Almost twenty years had passed since “The Hole Incident,” as Masaki put it. He'd been a Shinigami then, technically still was, a stalwart spirit standing against soul-eating creatures called Hollows. Such things were monsters of uncountable forms that flitted out of the void between the worlds of the living and the dead. He'd done so for hundreds of years until <em> that night </em>. That night he'd faced down a bizarre, human-shaped Hollow and nearly been killed were it not for a certain teenage Quincy setting herself up as bait in an executioner's gambit. </p><p>The gambit had worked, the Hollow took a point-blank Quincy arrow to the head but...somehow it survived that. It had attempted to infect Masaki with itself, perhaps to gain a new host, only Quincy and Hollow energies reacted almost toxic to one another. When the opportunity for a way to save her came up, to stop that hole from opening in her chest and reduce her soul to ash along with the Hollow, Isshin hadn't hesitated. He hadn't been about to let some bystander, Quincy or not, die in his place.</p><p>Urahara had helped them to seal the Hollow away when it couldn't be removed but the cost had been Isshin's life as a Shinigami.</p><p>Now he was all but Human, his abilities atrophied save for a dulling awareness of what was on the other side of the veil. Whatever Masaki was sensing it wasn't potent enough for him to notice. That didn't mean things were safe. Not when she mentioned a “hungry visitor,” a Hollow.</p><p>Isshin's fingers itched for a blade that wasn't there, senses straining to touch on the barriers laid throughout the house to ensure they were still strong.</p><p>Masaki moved to the window, peeking out through a small slit in the blinds.</p><p>Isshin again looked over to check on the kids only to have a minor heart attack.</p><p>None of the kids were as spiritually blind as he was so it was no surprise that Karin and Yuzu had woken up. Both were peeking out from under their blanket hiding spot at their mother and the window. Ichigo had gone a step further, out of the little nest of pillows and up on the back of the couch crouched like a toad ready to pounce. </p><p>How he'd gotten up like that without notice was quite the feat, distracted as Isshin was or not.</p><p>“Alright son, what have I told you about sitting on the couch like that?” </p><p>Isshin threw on his best cheer at the near identical faces the three of them made when he announced: “Time to carry the fruits off to bed! Roll call; Captain Strawberry! Captain Pear-apple! Captain Citrus!” </p><p>One by one he hastily scooped them up in fits of giggles, a raspberry blown once or twice for good measure. He caught Masaki smiling by the window as she kept an eye on whatever was outside, waiting for it to hopefully move on. The flex of her fingers, however, said she was ready if it didn't.</p><p>He couldn't be on the front lines any more but this? Their children? He'd make sure none of them got scared of the monsters outside for as long as he could.</p><p>It wasn't easy raising kids either.</p><p>Every skinned knee and bumped head was a world-ending event. There wasn't any reasoning to a child who's tiny world had been shattered like that, they could only scream and cry in hopes the pain would go away. </p><p>Teens were even trickier and Masaki wasn't there any more. She hadn't been for six years.</p><p>This time, even when the Hollow tore through the barriers like paper, smashed the dining room wall inward; Isshin couldn't sense it at all until it had touched him.</p><p>Claws raked down his back. Its presence fell like an anvil on his chest, his soul saved from being ripped from his body only by the seal. </p><p>His knees hit the floor.</p><p>Dishes clattered to the ground in the dark. </p><p>Karin bolted for the stairs.</p><p>Yuzu reached for him. </p><p>Her wide eyes went even wider as her body jerked to the side and back again. The realization hit slow that she was in the grip of something neither of them could see. That it was the same thing that had ripped into her father.</p><p>She'd screamed.</p><p>Isshin's consciousness faded just as he'd seen Ichigo come down the stairs with a baseball bat. Not an ounce of hesitation as he went after the thing that had his little sister.</p><p>Some part of him was proud.</p><p>Some part of him was terrified.</p><p>They were all about to be devoured and he could do nothing about it.</p><p>- - -</p><p>When Isshin awoke the pains were lessened greatly. </p><p>Tobacco smoke.</p><p>Not far from him sat a scruffy-looking man in a green, old fashioned kimono and dark haori, a striped bucket hat on his head.</p><p>Kisuke Urahara.</p><p>The man had that far-away gaze he sometimes got when puzzling over a particularly difficult problem.</p><p>“Kids are all safe,” Urahara stated quietly before Isshin could even ask. “Minor injuries, healed fine. I already used a kikanshinki on Karin and Yuzu so they're not going to remember much but Ichigo... Isshin, we need to talk.”</p><p>Isshin was tempted to tell him to put out his pipe in the house but then again there was still the giant hole in the wall. Scattered among the rubble were broken picture frames housing smiling faces and crayon drawings, each now glaringly out of place. </p><p>“Just... tell me what happened first...” Isshin tried and failed to sit up.</p><p>“Fishbone D. happened, now take it easy. I'm still waiting for someone to get back to me on how a Hollow like that wandered so far inland. All the reports I have right now are telling me it's been sticking to beaches for easy escapes.”</p><p>There was a beep from his flip phone which had him momentarily distracted.</p><p>“And we're in the clear for now, our newest guest just reported the incident as <em> business as usual </em>.” Urahara sighed deeply, relieved.</p><p>Newest guest.</p><p>“There... was a Shinigami here?” Isshin vaguely recalled Ichigo talking about a “samurai-looking guy” in his room a few minutes before the attack. He'd been hoping for an actual samurai's ghost.</p><p>“Yeah. Don't worry, she didn't recognize either of us. Now <em> stop </em> trying to get up, Fishbone did a number on you, kidō only does so much, remember?”</p><p>Isshin still managed to get his knees back under him. </p><p>“I would have been here sooner but-”</p><p>“But there was already a Shinigami here, yeah, I get it Kisuke,” Isshin grunted. He finally managed to make it to a sitting position.</p><p>“I'm sorry.”</p><p>Isshin waved the apology off. Everyone was alive and their secrets were safe. That was what mattered.</p><p>“No, Isshin, I mean <em> I'm sorry </em>.”</p><p>“I said I understand K-” it was then that he finally caught sight of Ichigo laying over on the kitchen linoleum, school uniform soaked crimson. “Ichigo? Ichigo!”</p><p>Urahara caught him as he tried to scramble over to his son.</p><p>“He's fine! Isshin, he's <em> fine! </em>”</p><p>“Let me GO!”</p><p>“He was <em> deputized </em>, Isshin!”</p><p>Breath caught in his throat. He stilled.</p><p>“No... no no n- Kisuke, what the <em> HELL HAPPENED </em>?!?”</p><p>Urahara thankfully helped him to Ichigo's side when he no doubt realized, as a father and a doctor, Isshin wasn't going to calm down till he could gain a little peace of mind that his son was indeed “fine.”</p><p>“Near as I can tell the Shinigami was tracking Fishbone and they ended up here. I'll know more from her later but once your barriers went down Tessai and I came as quick as we could. By the time we got here everything had already happened. Lucky blow, she went down, didn't really have a choice after that. It was either deputize him or let everyone get eaten.”</p><p>He gestured to Ichigo's prone form.</p><p>“Apparently she'd only meant to gift him a fraction of her power but he took nearly all of it. Downed Fishbone pretty quick before he passed out too.”</p><p>“Wait, <em> took? </em></p><p>Isshin looked up from the small patch of frost-bitten skin over the teen's heart. Urahara was... concerned. That never boded well.</p><p>“Yeah, the part of the seal that had extended to the kids... the transfer ritual broke it and I'm thinking her power might have filled up a void beneath...but it gets worse. The Shinigami, the one we're talking about? Her name is Rukia Kuchiki.”</p><p>“Kuchiki...” </p><p>Isshin's blood ran cold. Deputizing a Human without permission was an offence punishable by death. There would be an investigation for sure which at least explained why she hadn't reported the truth of the incident. That would buy them time. Her being a Kuchiki, on the other hand...</p><p>“Why did it have to be a Kuchiki?” Isshin closed his eyes for a moment. </p><p>The Kuchiki were a noble house on the other side, in Soul Society, one with high esteem. Once this predicament of one of their members came to their attention they'd no doubt do everything within their power to correct it in whatever way would bring the least amount of shame. That meant <em> this </em> investigation would be far more rigorous.</p><p>They'd all be found out for <em> sure </em> if that happened. Isshin wasn't about to risk his kids getting killed by a world they knew nothing about...there had to be something he could <em> do </em>.</p><p>“For now,” Urahara continued, “Tessai took her back to the shop to get outfitted for a gigai while she recovers. I've got a plan to stall as long as possible. Maybe take care of some other problems too but we'll see about that, I haven't decided just yet.”</p><p>“You're going to kill her aren't you?”</p><p>“I should take offence at that.”</p><p>“You're also <em> you </em>, Kisuke, a thousand contingency plans.”</p><p>“Thousand and one... but still, no. Killing her would cause even more problems.”</p><p>Isshin's brows drew together as he heard Ichigo groan softly. They really needed to get him cleaned and in bed before he woke up. </p><p>“I expect Miss Kuchiki to be sticking around for the foreseeable future. She has just as much riding on no one finding out as we do. Might even be open to the idea of training him as her Substitute to keep up appearances.”</p><p>“What am I supposed to do about that?”</p><p>Urahara shrugged. “Keep pretending. If she catches wind of who you are things can get ugly...same with your boy. There's no telling how long her power is going to last in him. With any luck he burns through it in a few days and she'll make him forget. Everyone parts ways clean.”</p><p>“He's <em> fifteen, </em> it's a miracle he's even still....you want me to leave him on <em> his own </em> with this?!” Isshin shook his head, forcing himself to focus on even more pressing matters. “You said the seal <em> broke </em> , Kisuke, that he <em> took </em> her power....”</p><p>“I did.”</p><p>“That Hollow... the one from back then...”</p><p>Blearily he recalled it. The rain. The <em> thing </em> that had looked like a horned man in black armour, blades for arms. That empty yellow gaze behind a Hollow's white mask but... it had fought like a Shinigami. It had fought with a speed he'd never come across and had barely been able to keep up with. Some kind of mutant Menos Grande with that cero but it had been far, far too small. Masaki using herself as bait to catch it and the resulting gore. How its corpse had... combusted afterwards from whatever mass had been growing in the void of its chest.</p><p>“You're worried it jumped,” Urahara stated. </p><p>“Don't tell me it's not possible....you know as well as I do Hollows are always pulling new tricks. If the seal broke and that thing is still alive then it just made a meal out of a <em> Kuchiki's </em> power. My son isn't going to be next.”</p><p>“And it's also possible his being the Human child of a Quincy and a Shinigami makes him a natural seal. It's too early to tell.”</p><p>“Kisuke-”</p><p>“It's too early, Isshin. What you need to concentrate on tomorrow is... is just this giant hole in the wall. Give your kids something normal to hang onto, all of them. Ichigo especially is going to need it for however long this lasts.”</p><p>A hand settled on Isshin's shoulder, Urahara looking between father and son.</p><p>“If it makes you feel any better I'll keep a close eye on him, Miss Kuchiki too. Worse comes to worse I've got contingencies, which reminds me-”</p><p>“<em> Kisuke </em>...”</p><p>“You haven't even heard what I'm about to say, and it's <em> good </em> for you!”</p><p>Isshin eventually sighed.</p><p>“As bad as the seal getting broken is? The seal is also <em> broken </em>, Isshin.” He elbowed the man's shoulder. “No more drain on your power. I've got a batch of medicine back at the shop guaranteed to help jump start your reiryoku. Probably able to leave that gigai in a few days and then we can start getting you back in shape.”</p><p>Isshin looked at him flatly, “I'm one of your contingencies, aren't I?”</p><p>“Of course! Ichigo's little gift shouldn't last but if his parentage means it does? We make Miss Kuchiki think it has and then who am I to stand in the way of a father sharing his legacy with his son?” Urahara chuckled. Leave it to him to find a silver lining. The man pulled a folding fan from his kimono, snapping it open in an attempt to hide a Puckish grin. “It's also a chance for me to try out some new methods of restoring a Shinigami's power. Interested, Captain Shiba?”</p><p>It had been a long time since he'd heard his family's name or his title. To say it didn't stir something in him was laughable. Urahara was right, the seal was gone and already he could feel a sharp prickle of heat through his body. <em> Engetsu </em>, his blade, was sluggishly waking up and with it the embers of his power. Whatever Urahara had in mind, Isshin knew it wouldn't be long before he'd feel that familiar furnace within himself again.</p><p>He looked down at Ichigo and then above to where he knew the twins’ bedroom was.</p><p>“Masaki would be cross with me if I didn't jump at this.”</p><p>“True, heh, she'd also probably drag the kids along to watch... make a picnic out of it.” His smile was fondly soft.</p><p>Isshin chuckled along, knowing it was true. Now that something like this had happened there would be no hiding the family secrets from them for much longer. The kids already treated seeing ghosts as normal, eventually they'd be asking why they could. The kikanshinki probably wasn't going to be as effective either, their memories would go back to normal too soon for them to think things had been just a nightmare.</p><p>“Alright, <em> Captain </em> Urahara, since we're dusting our titles off tonight.” Another sigh, another deep inhale and wince at the state of his back. “If you think you can do a decent patch job of this gigai while I'm in it you've got yourself a guinea pig. Clean-up is already gonna be a pain without me feeling like an old man an- <em> WHYYYYY DO YOU HAVE THOSE?!? </em>”</p><p>Urahara had pulled a pair of horrific-looking medical implements from...somewhere.</p><p>“Whaaaat? I was coming to your house after a Hollow-attack and thought you'd be in a few pieces!”</p><p>“That makes it worse!”</p><p>“Says my new guinea pig!”</p><p>He was a Shinigami again. Weak and recovering, but a Shinigami. He could keep his children safe again, as Masaki had done. As worried as Isshin was for Ichigo, Karakura was a sleepy little suburb without much in the way of trouble.</p><p>Things were going to be fine.</p><p> </p><p>---Present Day---</p><p>Karakura Town tried to be a city, it really did. Mostly it was just urban sprawl, parks, and bridges over a few rivers. For all its trying that veneer of city life was always covering a cozy little town.</p><p>The place was cozy even at four in the morning when sleepy baristas did their zombie-walk into work, a last chance to get some peace before picky customers barked orders for hours on end. One such teenager barely had his shirt tucked in as he scuffed his way across the sidewalk. </p><p>A sudden <em> POP </em> as the streetlight above him burst sent him sprinting ahead a few feet only to turn and see what made the noise. </p><p>Glass was scattered where he'd once been standing but aside from that, nothing.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Nothing and yet there was still that sensation of being watched that set the teen's hairs on end, causing him to book it around the corner not a moment later.</p><p>“You're <em> welcome! </em>” Karin shouted after him, knowing full well he could neither hear nor see her through the spiritual veil. </p><p>She looked behind her at the Hollow thrashing and screeching, held fast in the kidō net. The thing was the size of a van; a naga-type but with the upper torso resembling a praying mantis. Dark grey segments of insect armour blended down into the tail and at the point below its sternum was its dinner-plate sized hole. That hole was the only thing that was the same about them all, that and the masks.</p><p>The kidō net was holding tight to the Hollow and the pavement, a faint blue glow occasionally interrupted by trails of yellow pulsing through. Karin had caught enough with it to know at this point the Hollow wasn't going to escape but she still needed to keep on her toes.</p><p>Pulling out her handheld, she thumbed through the data the net was collecting. </p><p>This was her second summer back in Karakura training as an apprentice Shinigami, <em> rogue </em> Shinigami anyways. Perhaps more an independent agent and bounty hunter; a tester of new inventions.</p><p>It was Urahara's idea and a little bit her Dad's.</p><p>Nine years ago a lot of old history and bad memories had surfaced, a lot of family secrets. Two wars later, both of which had nearly ended the three worlds with the Humans completely unaware, and things had finally calmed down enough that they started to feel like everything was normal again. Then again, there had been the big Kurosaki family talks.</p><p>Apparently their Dad had been waiting until after she and her siblings had graduated secondary school to tell them the entire story...but things had changed. Those talks were some of the rare times the yelling in the house had been angry and not the whole family engaged in their usual rambunctiousness.</p><p>The entire thing had come down to none of them being entirely Human, an act to stay under the radar of one of Soul Society's governing bodies, its Shinigami military forces, and whoever else might want them dead just to keep things “neat.” </p><p>Masaki Kurosaki, their mother, had somewhat been Human. Quincy were Human. The Quincy had also been rendered nearly extinct by Soul Society for their preternatural ability to completely extinguish a soul rather than punt it into reincarnation. Isshin <em> Shiba </em>, on the other hand, was an AWOL Shinigami Captain in the Gotei 13. Lacking a physical body, he had since lived inside a fake one developed by family friend, Kisuke Urahara.</p><p>It still made Karin's head hurt but the supernatural weirdness of the family didn't start and end with some star-crossed lovers trope between demi-humans and spirit-beings. Oh no. Their parents hadn't even known each other before they'd been tied together at the soul along with something... else. </p><p>A megalomaniac named Sōsuke Aizen had decided it was a good idea to experiment with Hollows, building his own deadly chimera...this being while he pretended to be a loyal Captain within the Gotei. The resulting abomination, codenamed “White,” had left an assassin's rampage through the Shinigami agents in the Human World as Aizen tested its capabilities. He'd wanted to see if it were possible to make Hollows by “infecting” Shinigami or something of the sort. Something for the “Winter War” he'd later start.</p><p>Masaki, unable to stand by when someone needed her help, had gotten involved, blown her cover, and blown White's brains out with her power to save Isshin.</p><p>Isshin returned the favour despite her being Quincy, Urahara becoming acquainted with them all and binding the two together at the soul somehow to stop White's infection from killing her. One thing had led to another after a decade or so.... and then there they all were.</p><p>Ichigo and, four years later, she and her sister Yuzu.</p><p>That. <em> THAT </em> was when the really weird stuff had started happening and her brother had tried to play teenage super-hero all on his own...sort of on his own. Everything was complicated but not knowing the family weirdness had nearly gotten him killed...multiple times by friend and foe alike INCLUDING by his own stupidity. The only upside to the near-tragedy was that Ichigo had somehow managed to endear himself to enough influential people, made himself “useful” enough, that they looked the other way where the Kurosaki family was concerned. The obvious caveat was that the family secrets stayed family secrets, <em> especially </em> the weirdness inherent in their pedigree. </p><p>“Hmm,” Karin continued to thumb through the information displayed on the handheld, trying to figure out what kind of data Urahara was collecting and why. The Hollow in the net continued to screech and thrash. Mostly the net gathered energy readings; reiryoku and reiatsu. Physical strength was another but that was a given as was basic things involving size and density. “Potency” was a rather odd measurement as was “passive intake.”</p><p>A soft “ding” from the device and the glow of the net turning green meant that the diagnostic had been completed. A middling class two Hollow.</p><p>“Alright, say cheese big guy.”</p><p>Karin snapped some documentary pictures from the handheld, making sure to get the Hollow's unique mask. That done, she typed in “Arrowhead” for the file name. Not too inventive but the mask did resemble the shape. It was better than leaving the creature with just its capture number.</p><p>She pulled a silver cylinder the size of a pop can from her work bag as she walked over to the hissing creature; her lips pulled in a thin and thoughtful line. It was a simple enough thing to tap the base of the “can” to the Hollow's masked forehead. Too simple.</p><p>The creature's entire body went rigid, both it and the kidō net swirled into a flaky cloud of green light that was drawn up into the container. </p><p>'CAPTURED'</p><p>The insignia flashed on both the can and the handheld screen.</p><p>Karin let out a soft sigh as she decided to call it a night. It was beginning to become too light out for Hollows. During the day they would be out if they were particularly hungry but mostly they just seemed to bed down somewhere or keep to dark places where people didn't typically hang out, especially since it was summer, bright, and <em> hot </em>.</p><p>She switched the handheld over into “phone mode,” sending over the night's data along with a text.</p><p>
  <em> --15 total, C2's tonight, I think they ate the little guys. </em>
</p><p>It wasn't too early for Urahara to be awake and if it was he should have been getting up by then anyways. Sure enough the handheld pinged a few moments later with Urahara's distinctive bucket-hat and geta avatar.</p><p><b>Candy-Man:</b> <em> You're probably right. How has the net gun held up? </em></p><p>
  <em> --LOVE! New design is much easier to use. Trigger needs adjusting, close call just now. Got the Hollow in time. Was about to snack on a barista. </em>
</p><p><b>Candy-Man:</b> <em> Tessai sends his thanks for saving a sacred bean-warrior. Debrief at 6? </em></p><p>
  <em> --Heading home for body and quick breakfast with dad, 6:15-30?? I'm starving, sensei T^T </em>
</p><p><b>Candy-Man:</b> <em> Nutrition is important even for a tardy student! If you pick up some large mochaccinos I shall overlook it. You won't want to miss too much of today ;) </em></p><p>
  <em> --Hard bargain but deal. What are you up to? </em>
</p><p>Urahara simply sent an egg and cat-face emoji.</p><p>“Ok, be mysterious then,” Karin smirked a little. He was always sending little puzzles like that. Maybe Lady Yoruichi was back? He often used something cat-themed for her and Karin wanted to get back to hand-to-hand combat training. That egg though... this time she had no idea. Likely it was going to be boldly simple when he made himself clear. </p><p>- - -</p><p>Seeing her body sleeping without her inside it would never not be unsettling. It might have been easier if she and Yuzu had been identical twins but Yuzu more closely resembled the photographs of their mother; all bubbly cheer, mousy hair, and kind chocolate gaze. Karin was every bit their father. Magpie-black hair and a boyish figure from years of football along with his dark eyes.</p><p>She dropped most of her gear off to the side, jumping up a little to do a bit of a “back flop” back inside because why not? Getting back into her body always felt like diving into the deep end, resulting in soft aches from laying in one position all night. Nothing morning stretches didn't fix.</p><p>Tossing some of her discarded gear into a tote bag, Karin shrugged into some shorts and an old Nadeshiko League jersey, hair soon in a messy bun. All but hurling herself down the steps, Karin leapt up just in time to avoid a sliding tackle as she entered the kitchen-dining room area.</p><p>“Morning dad!” Without missing a beat she started pouring out some of the orange juice waiting on the table.</p><p>Isshin lay splayed out on his back against the opposite wall and floor, a teary-eyed grin proudly centred in his stubble. “Morning sweet-pea!”</p><p>The unusual greeting had once only been reserved for Ichigo until Karin had begun her apprenticeship. Even then it seemed just out of nostalgia and the fact that Ichigo was off on a very well-deserved vacation. Isshin wasn't nearly so aggressive in the greeting with her.</p><p>“How was last night?” He untangled himself, standing with that same grin as he fluffed his lengthy crew cut back into place. “Yuzu called right after you left, we managed to get a hold of Ichi too.”</p><p>“Fifteen class-twos and <em> please </em> tell me he's out looking for chupacabra! Yuzu sent him a bunch of cryptid stuff the other day and then he sent <em> me </em> a picture from some shop with of one of those...eh... you know... the fancy taxidermy things where they make mythical animals? Had a 'chupacabra' sitting on a back shelf. I told him I thought it was real when he asked.” </p><p>Isshin couldn't help the belly laugh that followed. “You two are vicious little angels, you know that?”</p><p>Karin just grinned. Breakfasts were like that now, not all of them together but still talking like they were. The twins had moved out the year before to be closer to campus while they attended university. Unsurprisingly Yuzu wanted to become a doctor and keep the family clinic going since the weirdness seemed to have largely run out by the time it reached her. Karin kept thinking she was disappointed but Yuzu always assured her she was glad for it. Vaguely seeing spirits these days, she’d said, was plenty enough for her.</p><p>Everyone had expected Karin to go into sports medicine or nutrition but she'd instead chosen anthropology. The reasons for it were complicated, as things so often were. When she'd told their dad why it had been what prompted him to ask Urahara's advice. The summer apprenticeship was at least a paying job when it came to testing Urahara's gear and collecting Hollows for research. More than that it was an excuse to come back and check on things since her Dad and brother were fairly helpless on their own. </p><p>Urahara had also been a lot less “sloppy” when it had come to the ritual and subsequent trials which Ichigo had undergone in becoming a Substitute Shinigami. It had also given them the chance to pitch the ordeal to the necessary people in Soul Society as a precautionary measure. Surprisingly they'd agreed under the same conditions that her brother followed.</p><p>Ichigo had been the only one of the kids to remain at home. It made a horrid kind of sense.</p><p>Two wars...not the Human kind of wars where it only stopped skin-deep in gore or brought about violent, inescapable mental trauma but further, the kind of war fought at the level of <em> souls </em> . The kind where the dead could die and the monsters were quite real, all too close, a chaotic kaleidoscope of impossibilities fought across three different realms. Some things he'd been involved in had warranted a permanent denial of having ever occurred in the first place when memory could not be bartered with. Two wars like <em> that </em> before he'd even turned eighteen and the first one had nearly broken him in half.</p><p>Ichigo stayed at home in Karakura Town. He stayed in their little neighbourhood with familiar streets he'd endlessly walk and predictable pedestrian rhythms he could time out to avoid crowds. These days he kept a small job working with his childhood friend, Tatsuki, at her dojo. She'd seen some of the family weirdness for herself and it helped him a little, knowing she'd not question how he could effortlessly tank the guys built like vending machines until they were absolutely exhausted. It helped him knowing <em> normal </em> Tatsuki had more of a clue than most and hadn't run.</p><p>The very fact that six years of calm had finally gotten Ichigo to leave home and go with friends on a long-overdue vacation outside of Japan was <em> phenomenally good </em>. Maybe soon his cheerful attitude would be genuine and he'd stop looking like he expected another war to start up.</p><p>Karin was still laughing over some joke or another as she took care of the dishes, father on drying duty. She'd never admit to missing little family habits like that while classes were in session, being accused of homesickness wasn't something she could live down.</p><p>“Hey, Sweet-pea, it's getting close to six, shouldn't you be heading off soon?”</p><p>“I've already told Mr. Urahara I'd be a little late. My last capture was all the way across town,” she grinned. “Still have to pick up some coffees to make up for it though.” Karin handed off the last bowl. “Hey, has he sent you any puzzle-codes using an egg and a cat-face? So far I think it might mean Lady Yoruichi is back in town or it has something to do with her. You think?” </p><p>Isshin's lips scrunched up in thought, “n- I don't think so? Maybe he's opened the bunker back up, that place is like an egg.”</p><p>“I <em> hope so </em>. Running around town on captures is fun but I wanna get back to bashing those dummies of his.” She blinked, “Ooooo! He could have made a new terrain down there, elevated platforms or something, you know, like a cat-tree?”</p><p>Dishes back in place; Karin hoped she wasn't setting herself up for disappointment with the cat-tree idea. She grabbed her tote bag from the back of her chair, turning to give her father a hearty squeeze. </p><p>Isshin fake-sobbed a little. “At least my baby girl still hugs meeee!”</p><p>“Daaaaad, don't ruin iiiit.” </p><p>- - -</p><p>Cicadas screamed with the morning heat and the sky again showed no promise of rain. Already the narrow streets of Karakura Town were feeling stuffy, sticky, and it wasn't quiet July yet. </p><p>Heatwaves were everyone's enemies.</p><p>The small lot where the shop was could be spotted just down the block, nestled between the windowless walls of neighbouring businesses. Any normal candy shop wouldn't have its storefront facing the rear access road but the whole place was essentially a blackmarket dealership for all things ghostly between the realms. </p><p>Karin questioned the entire operation from start to finish. Half of it had to do with Kisuke Urahara's past...whatever that was. All she knew was that about a century ago he'd been Captain of Squad Twelve and Head of the Research and Development Department. He'd been accused of something horrifically treasonous, wrongly so, then escaped to the Human World before he could be stripped of his powers as a Shinigami. Tessai Tsukabishi too, only he'd been Head of the Kidō Corps. Kindda like a wizard-priest or cleric. Aizen and his lot, of course, had been involved. </p><p>Still, it seemed like the place had been the best kept open-secret among the Shinigami for being run by wanted men. Gigai, like the fake body he'd given Isshin to live in, and Hollow research being his specialties seemed the primary reason for it. Urahara fixing “problems” for Shinigami before their superiors found out about certain screwups was likely another.</p><p>Having the shop and the <em> massive </em> training bunker below ground seemed excessively stupid when considering the whole “wanted” thing. Then again, both men were geniuses in their own rights.... <em> eccentric </em>and a little mad in Urahara's case. They probably had something in place for getting out of there and leaving no trace. </p><p>Aizen's eventual defeat had cleared their names and lifted the orders of exile but they still chose to make the Human World home for various reasons. Karin honestly didn't know what her family would do without Urahara and his rogue's gallery of acquaintances watching their backs.</p><p>The song playing in her earbuds ended just in time for her to catch the quiet giggling from a pair of cram-school girls across the street. </p><p>It took Karin a moment to realize they weren't reacting to something on their phones or gossip between them. </p><p>She simply stood there a moment, listening to the next song begin, and sighed. At some point she'd unthinkingly hopped up on the row of parking barriers, the kind that were cement posts linked together by chains, and had been walking across them like it was nothing. The carrier of coffees was balanced with practised ease in one hand and her own matcha frap in the other.</p><p>Family weirdness....yeah, she'd have giggled too.</p><p>Hopping down, Karin took it in stride as she made her way to the candy shop's dirt lot.</p><p>A stark contrast to the cement buildings around it, the shop was an antique, likely a hold over from the Karakura Town of a hundred years ago. Sliding doors were thrown wide against the summer heat. The white plaster walls were accented with darkly weathered wood, roof layered with traditional clay tiles. All of it showed signs of repairs at different points in the history of the squat, two-story building. </p><p>Parked on the left hand side was a pale blue shop van from the 70's while on the right the wood-clad extension to the lower floor looked not unlike an extra storage shed. The weathered shop sign read “Urahara's Shop” in bold kanji, unadorned black on white as it had for a number of years. Ballsy.</p><p>“Good morning Mr. Urahara! Good morning Mr. Tessai!” Karin walked past the displays of old fashioned sweets to the knee-high genkan at the back. </p><p>“Good morning Miss Kurosaki!”</p><p>The two were hunkered by an oscillating fan in the house-portion of the little shop, both occupied with a few gadgets and a slew of papers spread across the low table. Mochaccinos were met with delighted reverence and a “bless you” from Tessi when he discovered that his had an extra bit of whipped cream. For being well over a century old neither man looked more than forty and that wasn't just their ageless gigai.</p><p>“My, my, just shy of six-twenty! And here I thought you'd be a little later.” Urahara teased.</p><p>Karin took up her usual seat at the table as she pulled some of the gear out of her tote. There wasn't too much use in engaging in early banter while the two enjoyed their proverbial “teachers' apples,” and Urahara had sparked her interest with not wanting to waste much more of the day's time. She got right into her assessments of the various tools and traps she'd used during the night. </p><p>Tessai looked on keenly from behind his glasses whenever it came to the kidō items. He cut an intimidating figure in both height and muscle-mass, a dark handlebar mustache and neatly twisted cornrows giving the impression he was in some sort of American biker gang. It seemed a jeans and t-shirt kind of day for him and as usual he was already wearing his blue shop apron, a smear of powdered sugar going unnoticed at his shoulder. The place was still a candy shop after all, someone had to make the old-fashioned confections. </p><p>Urahara, by contrast, was more of a scruffy hobo than a shop owner. His short and lanky frame was lost within the loose green folds of his kosode and darker haori, a striped bucket-hat of similar green and white sat far enough down on his head that his eyes were always in near-permanent shadow. Shaggy tufts of his straw-coloured hair still managed to stick out including the one always between his eyes that Karin really wished he'd do something about. Remarkably Urahara's favoured “prop,” a white folding fan, was in full use rather than playing some part in his eccentric expressions or distracting from the ultra-fine patchwork of scars across his stubbled cheeks.</p><p>The three had nearly finished their respective drinks by the time Karin had concluded by handing over the capture container.</p><p>“As always, a greatly informative review Miss Kurosaki,” Tessai nodded. “It's good to know our work is appreciated.”</p><p>Karin grinned. “Heh, well I <em> am </em> supposed to be giving it a good critique. Speaking of: Mr. Urahara? I've got tiny hands and the net gun's current grip is perfect for me but-”</p><p>“Ensure a customizable grip? But of course!” Urahara scribbled something down on his notes, grinning all the while. “Well, I do believe now's as good a time as any for that grocery run. We've got a great deal to be doing later, Tessai, and a greater deal of final guest-proofing to do to this house.”</p><p>A slight frown threatened on Tessai's face but Karin couldn't tell if it had to do with groceries or the “guest-proofing.” Either way the large man stood from his seat on the tatami mats to go ready himself for the errand.</p><p>Karin had already understood “guest-proofing” to mean a doubling on the warding around the lot and shop, usually because someone with a need to lay low was about to swing by for a few days. It probably also meant lessons would be cancelled until the person in question moved on. The policy of secrecy was a rather strict one even if it always seemed a little shady.</p><p>Urahara briefly asked about how Jinta and Ururu were fairing in Tokyo, attempting to not sound like a worrying parent. The two shared Karin and Yuzu's apartment, also attending the same university. Summer classes were keeping them busy but they were living a “normal life” along with keeping an eye on Yuzu in case something happened...not that there had ever been any incidents involving anything coming for her in recent years. There had, of course, been the normal encounters with Hollows in the area but those were typically fielded by the Shinigami agents in that district. Business as usual.</p><p>It wasn't until Tessai had left on the grocery run that Urahara's grin had taken on that mischievous twinge.</p><p>Karin crossed her arms. “What?”</p><p>“I'm surprised you haven't asked yet.”</p><p>“About what?” It was her turn to grin a little then. Something told her Urahara already knew she'd avoided asking about his emoji puzzle to force him into being the first one to address it but perhaps the meaning behind it truly was that exciting for him.</p><p>“My little puzzle,” yup. The excitement was palpable.</p><p>Karin hummed in thought a moment. It couldn't have anything to do with the bunker or Lady Yoruichi, the latter didn't seem to be in.</p><p>“All I have are blind guesses, unfortunately, Mr. Urahara.”</p><p>Again came the Cheshire grin hidden partially behind his folding fan. “All is well, Miss Kurosaki, there wasn't much for you to base guesses off of in the first place. An answer of 'I don't know' is precisely the one I hoped for.”</p><p>“Nice to know,” Karin nodded, “so...am I about to be offered some context?”</p><p>The fan snapped shut. “Of course!” Urahara leaned back on his arms, “but first; what do you know of what a Hollow is? Not form alone, but what it <em> is </em>.” He gave a shrug of one shoulder. “Textbook answers are fine but I'm also asking for your own thoughts based on your encounters with them.”</p><p>That caught her off guard. A remedial pop quiz? Now?</p><p>“Um...my... thoughts?” She watched Urahara nod, saying nothing more. “Well...they're soul eaters, violent spirits. They're typically formed when a human soul is left lost after death. A Shinigami’s primary job is to put the soul to rest before that happens, sending them off to Soul Society to await reincarnation back into the Human World, and to cleanse the resulting Hollow if they fail.”</p><p>Karin searched her memory for details she didn't particularly dwell on when most of her activities in the field came down to: “There's a Hollow there, deal with it.”</p><p>“The lost soul can change at any point for almost any reason. It can be as a result of an emotionally charged death of some variety, years of loneliness as a spirit, fear, regrets, obsessions, or even by being corrupted by an encounter with a Hollow. Regardless of those circumstances the process of Encroachment eats away at the soul's Chain of Fate-”</p><p>Karin winced, recalling her own battle resisting Encroachment during the process of becoming the rogue Shinigami that she was. The pain had been...</p><p>“-the soul's Chain of Fate until it reaches their heart, their spiritual core. Once completed, the resulting demi-Hollow destabilizes into chaos, reforming into a monstrous shape with a hollow opened at its heart and a mask covering its still-human face. There's no known way to reverse the Hollowfication once past this stage and the demi-Hollow is driven to feed at all costs.” She paused, “I... remember Ichigo saying... that he thought a demi-Hollow which hadn't fed yet could still hold onto its humanity for a little longer. I haven't encountered that.”</p><p>Urahara nodded. “Miss Orihime's brother. I am aware of that incident. He retained enough humanity that he managed to stop himself from devouring her... stabbed himself with Ichigo's Zanpakutō before he could do any more damage.”</p><p>Karin drank the last of her macha frap in hopes of stopping her mouth from feeling so dry, settle her stomach. She tried not to look at the capture canister. </p><p>“If that's the case then it's only after feeding that a Hollow can truly be called a Hollow. The humanity is gone, replaced by a ravenous entity of pure instinct and blood-lust. Intelligence varies but I haven't spotted a pattern for why. Some Hollows are screeching beasts and others can carry on... maybe middle-schooler levels of conversation? Mostly taunts and simple scheming. It's always like... like they prefer their victims to be terrified before eating them. One I encountered even said I’d be <em> delicious </em> like that.”</p><p>Urahara gestured for her to continue.</p><p>“Um...and then there are four basic class levels to the Hollows found in the Human World, based on a combination of size, density, reiryoku, reiatsu, general lethality and...umm...their ability to cross realms. There used to be <em> five </em> classes to include the Menos Grande but since the Winter War it has since been reclassified among the Menos Hollows as a <em> Gillian </em>.”</p><p>Urahara clapped his hands together. “Well done for the earth-bound Hollows! Now, I know we haven't gone over much of the Menos Hollows as of yet but again, I would like to know what you know so far.”</p><p>“May I ask what this is about first?” Karin shifted uncomfortably on her knees, beginning to pick at her thumbnail.</p><p>The sound of the oscillating fan was the only thing audible for a moment during which Urahara seemed unusually thoughtful.</p><p>“I've encountered a very rare opportunity at researching an aspect of Menos Hollows.” He spoke carefully, softly. “It's an opportunity I was allowed <em> by </em> them, which is saying a lot after the scars Aizen left behind in Hueco Mundo. Even with the treaty the Menos don't trust Shinigami all that much so I find myself in need of an assistant other than Tessai.” He gestured to her. “You, Miss Kurosaki, are in a unique position to assist me <em> and </em> you're studying anthropology, correct? This could prove a rare opportunity for you as well. I've found the Menos Hollows to have a rather... let's say <em> unique </em> and complicated social structure.”</p><p>“I've only had a year of-” Karin stopped, trying to think of something. “Wait, are you asking me to go with you into Hueco Mundo?”</p><p>Urahara went wide eyed a moment before cackling like a loon behind his fan. “GOODNESS no! Your father would absolutely have my HEAD and Ichigo the rest of me!”</p><p>Karin's shoulders finally relaxed. </p><p>“No, my dear, this research will very much take place here in the Human World.”</p><p>“This... this is the egg and the cat-face isn't it?”</p><p>Urahara nodded. “Now, before I give the game away,” he again gestured for her to continue.</p><p>She had to fight against the pounding in her chest and the brain-fog that came with Urahara's revelation. She <em> still </em> had no idea what the puzzle meant but it now made even less sense.</p><p>“M-menos Hollows, yes. Um... they rarely, if ever at all, leave Hueco Mundo...mostly because their hunger far exceeds that of lesser Hollows. They almost exclusively cannibalize each other or target spirits with high amounts of spiritual energy. Effectively they're...a singular entity composed of countless separate souls and soul-fragments.” She blinked, “wait, if Menos don't leave Hueco Mundo, how are we going to conduct this research?”</p><p>Urahara just chuckled. “Keep going, Miss Kurosaki, it'll make sense by the end of today, I promise.”</p><p>“Oh come on! Really? Ugh, fine. Three. There's three distinct classes of Menos: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde. All three classes are capable of focusing their reiryoku into an explosive force called a cero. Gillians are characterized by... well... honestly, Urahara, they look like someone threw a black bed-sheet over themselves and strapped on a white plague doctor mask only... you know, six stories tall.”</p><p>That earned a laugh.</p><p>“Adjuchas are...I don't know, from the pictures I've seen there isn't much to tell them apart from regular earth-bound Hollows, the forms are all over the place. <em> Sensing </em> them is likely where the distinction is? They're what Gillians can become if they eat enough and are a lot more dangerous.”</p><p>Urahara nodded. “Correct, but you <em> can </em> tell an Adjuchas apart from a standard Hollow, it's just not something you tend to notice if it's going after you.” He pointed to his eyes, “Adjuchas will have recognizable eyes, even human-like eyes sometimes, rather than the yellow or crimson glow you see with lesser Hollows. There's also more expressive movement with their masks and both their <em> sentience </em> and <em> sapience </em> have returned to them, what we think of as humanity. Their version of it is much different than our own but it's there.” </p><p>He'd again opened his fan, “A standard Gillian, on the other hand, is essentially a directionless mass of souls. Lesser Hollows that have made it into Hueco Mundo in search of more substantial prey will occasionally get caught up in a cannibalistic feeding frenzy, resulting in all their energies and forms melding together into one. The most basic type of Menos. Sometimes though, and I mean <em> sometimes </em> , you'll have a singular soul with an iron will or extreme ego inside all that mass, maybe even a composite of soul fragments born right then and there. It'll come screaming to the surface to give the Gillian an identity. At that point its mask isn't shaped like, as you said, a white plague doctor mask. These <em> awakened </em> Gillian are what in turn become Adjuchas once they eat enough.” </p><p>Karin nodded. “Then there's the Vasto Lorde class. All I know is the name and that they're the highest stage a Hollow can reach. The caterpillar's butterfly. Impossibly rare and...maybe extinct for now. Aizen supposedly gathered up all he could find and threw them at everyone during the Winter War.”</p><p>“That's one way of putting it,” Urahara sighed. “The Menos themselves don't even know how Vasto Lordes come about. They're not extinct though.”</p><p>Karin looked up from her harsh judgment on the leftover bits of macha in her cup.</p><p>“Truly! One of the Vasto Lordes Aizen mismanaged was able to make it through both the wars and turned what was left of Las Noches into a colony of the surviving Arrancar. Which reminds me, I know I've mentioned the Arrancar before.” Urahara comically bat his eyes, expectant.</p><p>“Arrancar? Oh! I forgot about them. They're a variant of Menos Hollows. The name means 'to tear away,' referring to how their masks are shattered and they’ve got a fairly human form because of that. As far as I know their masks were broken by Aizen and that stone-thing but...I think it happens in the wild too? Arrancar are...maybe a half-class above whatever they were before their mask shattered?”</p><p>Urahara again nodded his approval, “so close!”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“Their <em> swords </em>, Miss Kurosaki!” Urahara flashed his grin behind his fan.</p><p>“Aren't those just stolen Zanpakutō?”</p><p>Urahara shook his head, “I thought they were stolen as well for the longest time until I got a better look at some when I was in Hueco Mundo. Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't count this against you then.”</p><p>Karin turned her judgemental eyes on him for a moment.</p><p>“Yes, well, in the case of the Arrancar that Aizen had a hand in; the swords they carry are somewhat similar to Zanpakutō; blades, katanas, tantos, wakizashi, that sort of thing. A Zanpakutō is forged, and it looks that way BUT rather than an inner spirit manifesting as a separate being within it as ours do, an Arrancar's sword simply contains the other half of their power. The shape is still similar to a recognizable blade but constructed more... let's say <em>organically</em>. Bone and sinew, parts of the one it manifested from. Think of it as that old saying... when a soul becomes a Hollow their heart becomes their mask to shield them. Sooooo, when a Menos becomes an Arrancar, that shield becomes their sword. They're very much like the difference between a regular soul and a Shinigami in that respect.” </p><p>Urahara twirled his free hand about, searching for an apt description. </p><p>“Much like we Shinigami train to push the mastery of our Zanpakutō into shikai and bankai states, becoming able to channel much more of our spiritual energy into various techniques, Arrancar have their own release commands. A shikai that hits like a bankai! They call it a resurrección, a <em> rebirth. </em> This released state puts them <em> bodily </em> back into some semblance of their unshattered form, merging back with the blade, and they're <em> stronger </em> for it.” </p><p>“Sounds like they'd maybe prefer to remain in that released state.”</p><p>“Ah, yes, but it eats up quite a bit of energy as I understand,” Urahara grunted as he got to his feet. “We got lucky that only one of Aizen's Vasto Lorde classed Arrancar could manage whatever the second stage of resurrección is, and that one strangely never left Hueco Mundo when it would have counted.” He picked up the capture container and his cane, motioning for Karin to grab her shoes and follow him. “Well, come on then, if you're wanting to participate in this little venture it's high time we got started.” </p><p>At the back of the utility room where the heaters and kerosene were stored Urahara waved his hand across a vacant area of wall. Some sort of kidō switch flickered briefly like a hologram in orange light, likely tied to he and Tessai's sole use, and a section of the floor began to shudder.</p><p>“Why am I not surprised you have an elevator in this place?” Karin tugged on her trainers when she noticed Urahara had donned his usual geta.</p><p>“You expected me to carry gigai up the bunker ladder?” Urahara chuckled, “while we're on the subject of Zanpakutō, how is shikai training with your father going?”</p><p>Karin let out a long sigh at that point, shoulders slumped, “I can make it into my inner world well enough but my spirit is just... I don't know, hiding? I can hear her though, garbled.”</p><p>“Heh, don't beat yourself up too much. You've only been working at this for two years. That you're this far is still impressive considering how long it takes Academy students to even <em> get </em> into their inner worlds.”</p><p>“Ichigo did it in a few days...<em> while </em> enduring Encroachment.”</p><p>“Karin... your brother is an absolute <em> beast </em> when it comes to some things but back then he'd have died if he failed, so would a lot of other people. If I were you I wouldn't aim to follow that closely in his footsteps.” Urahara gently patted her shoulder as the elevator came to a stop. “Besides, doing it slowly allows you to understand things he completely missed out on, foundational concepts he still struggles to grasp.”</p><p>The two stepped out into a short hallway with stainless steel mortuary cabinets on either side. Most had labels and locks as customers who'd had custom gigai created for them rented out the storage spaces. That was the impression Karin got anyways upon seeing some familiar names. She'd not actually been inside Urahara's lab before.</p><p>Beyond the hall the main part of the lab was more or less like any that could be found in a university biomedical department. A few exceptional details were the use of what looked like outdated computers and other machines. Supposedly it was easier to jury-rig older tech into being compatible with the tech in Soul Society. Other hallways branched off from the main lab and Karin could see through the separation glass on a far wall where a dozen standard gigai stood waiting. They were all a little creepy, white-eyed grey manikins all identical in rows. Each would take on the appearance of the Shinigami possessing them when occupied.</p><p>A custom gigai was laid out on a slab and half-covered by a sheet, several IV tubes and monitors attached to it. Karin could only guess that those were either for quality testing or injecting the thing with whatever fluids were needed to pass for “Human” upon close inspection.</p><p>Urahara had stopped his quiet guiding, still grinning, next to the slab allowing Karin a chance to work out all the whys of the moment for herself.</p><p>Custom gigai always looked like the person they were for and this one was no exception. He was at least six feet of lean muscle packed on in tight coils like a gymnast, all lanky limbs. A light olive complexion was sparsely peppered with freckles and constellations of moles that didn't reach his angular face. The expression he wore was peaceful and slack, eyes thankfully taped shut, and his mussed hair was just long enough to fall in soft raven cascades that seemed midnight blue at the right angle. Embedded beneath no more than a millimetre of skin on his chest Karin could make out several heavy-duty seals. Those weren’t typical and she didn't know what exactly the seals were against but slowly....</p><p>Surely not?</p><p>“Mr. Urahara?” Karin looked up to the man in question, Cheshire grin now fully evident in his shadowed eyes. “You...you've built a gigai for an Arrancar.... haven't you?”</p><p>His fan snapped shut and Urahara let out a pleased hum as he did a bit of a shuffle-dance. </p><p>“That I have, Miss Kurosaki, that I have and it's been <em> quite </em> the challenge!” He gestured to the gigai, “frankly I'm not even certain this model will work but he's arriving within the next few days so I'll be able to at least use this as an initial fitting. Adjustments can be made!”</p><p>“So he's the research? The egg and the cat-face is a gigai for a... feline-type Arrancar?” The gigai did have a bit of a feline look to its face. Karin felt her stomach turning in knots. Normal Hollows could be intimidating enough but a <em> Menos </em> would be downright terrifying...and cats were notorious assholes. How did Urahara expect this Arrancar to behave and not just <em> eat them all?! </em> How the hell did he expect to contain <em> multitudes </em> of souls within a single gigai?!</p><p>“Ah, partially. He is indeed the <em> cat </em>, I should say.” Urahara again motioned for her to follow along with him, this time towards the door that led out into the bunker. “Specifically he's a panther... er... a jaguar-type so it might be useful to look into that and cats in general. I've found his mannerisms to be quite similar in addition to the usual Hollow behaviours.”</p><p>The interior of the bunker had undergone a drastic change since last Karin had been inside. As usual it was comparable to the size of a stadium with numerous outcroppings of rocks, scraggly trees, and hard-packed dirt. Much of it had been scarred by Zanpakutō techniques being unleashed or similar powers, kidō spells and the like being tested and trained. <em> Usually </em> the domed ceiling was lit like the daylight sky and painted with clouds yet now the light had been lowered substantially, a moon added to the mural. The whole place felt like the reishi filters were turned off, the very air noticeably thick with ambient spiritual energy as a result.</p><p>“It's not Hueco Mundo, buuuut it's as close as can be managed,” Urahara explained as they walked towards a tent that had been set up some distance in. “Part of the reason our Arrancar guest hasn't shown up earlier has been preparations like this.” </p><p>The closer to the tent they got Karin noticed they passed over little boundaries made from stone weights and cord similar to how one went about containing spiritual pressure when healing an injured Shinigami. Five such boundary rings were stepped over, each time the energy becoming thicker and the air a little bit cooler until it felt like they were wading through chilly water. A small bank of computers were set up on a table near the flap to monitor something inside, judging from where the emerging wires were going.</p><p>Urahara clicked the capture canister into the socket of some sort of boxy machine before switching it on. The device hummed to life, a wafting of pale green fog soon pouring out from a large, clear plastic tube running out the back to disappear with the rest of the wires.</p><p>“That should give us just enough light to see by inside,” Urahara almost cooed.</p><p>“What even <em> is </em> all this, Mr. Urahara?It's...and then the gigai?”</p><p>He chuckled, ushering her quickly inside the tent and closing them up in near total darkness. “The gigai is better explained when you meet our guest. He's here to take care of the <em> real </em> subject of this research...and I cannot stress enough how rare and precious of a thing this is to bring him all the way out here.” Urahara's voice was quiet but Karin could <em> hear </em> his manic grin.</p><p>Just barely Karin could make out a straw mat on the ground under which the faintly glowing tube and other wires continued. She watched as he rolled it back to reveal a hole no more than two feet deep into which the fog was pooling, beginning to congeal into some kind of slimy substance that clung to the dirt walls and something that looked the size and shape of a slightly rotten watermelon. The smell was only mildly unpleasant but enough to have her covering her nose and mouth.</p><p>“Miss Kurosaki, despite what we just went over about how Hollows form and metamorphoses, this is...a Hollow's egg. Not just any Hollow... but apparently the egg of a Vasto Lorde.”</p><p> </p><p>---Nine years ago---</p><p>-Hueco Mundo-</p><p>He hated the light of the hallways. Hated the hallways. Hueco Mundo was a desert realm of eternal, starless night and there <em> should </em> have been soft sand beneath his feet and open spaces, outcrops of stone and thickets of quartz brush. This polished marble tile shit with its sharp, echoing sounds had to go. More than that the tiles didn't allow for him to cover the trail of black blood he was leaving in his wake nor did the long hallway give him much option for escape should some rival decide to strike while he was wounded. </p><p>It was inconvenient but much safer travelling to his assigned tower in the lower halls rather than that absurdly bright, inner dome of Las Noches above. </p><p>“Daylight” was not pleasant even if it were fake. </p><p>Up there all ten towers of the “Espada” had a clear view of the open area below and he knew the others' respective facciónes kept keen eyes. No, not facciónes, <em> fracciónes </em> as those three Shinigami kept referring to them. Part of some strange number system they had devised for their Arrancar army. It made little sense to him apart from an innate desire to be at its peak. Right now, however, he wished his number did not put a target quite so literally on his back. That might have been the whole point.</p><p>This foul structure had been built on the old stone markers and ruins that had made up the former “God-King's” central territory: Las Noches. It was a massive citadel dwarfed only by the ego of the Shinigami who created it; Sōsuke Aizen. He was <em> no </em> Vasto Lorde but insisted on calling the elite <em> his Espada </em> as if it had been earned, <em> gave </em> each an area within the compound to oversee like it was a proper territory, and somehow expected <em> no problems </em>. </p><p>As many apex predators as there were, stuffed into such a small space, there were always problems.</p><p>More than a few of the lower “Espada” acted like nothing more than insecure brats, taking every opportunity to move up the ranks and kiss ass in hopes of better hunting privileges. Grimmjow couldn't find fault with it, the consequence of failure was the promise of unwanted teeth too close to his throat and all Aizen had to do was point out weakness with a smile.</p><p>Grimmjow had decided it best that he retreat to the den once he'd ensured the ways inside were barricaded, not that they hadn't been when he and his facción had left earlier. Barricade and <em> think </em>. </p><p>Heavy door to the lower level bolted shut, Grimmjow stretched out his pesquisa as a habit. His senses were still fried after the fiasco up in <em> Lord </em> Aizen's obnoxious throne room. That particular Shinigami had the densest fog of reiatsu he'd felt yet, more than the <em> real </em>Vasto Lordes who kept their own spiritual energy tucked away.</p><p> It was all <em> wrong, </em> it was if the Lordes <em> cowered </em>.</p><p>At most Grimmjow could reach the third floor but beyond that his senses were blind. Shit, the hallway could have been his end. </p><p>All <em> this </em> for taking some initiative? Aizen's lapdog, Ulquiorra, had wasted the most perfect opportunity to kill that orange-headed whelp of a boy his master was so interested in. <em> Shinigami Substitute </em> , as he'd been called, <em> Ichigo Kurosaki </em>. Pathetic. From the visions Ulquiorra had shared that boy had done no more than flail about with his power. It was beginner’s luck that he managed to shove enough of his energy into that soul-cutting blade of his that he sliced through Yammy's pitiful hierro, taking his arm in the process. </p><p>It was a fate that Grimmjow could empathize with partially at the moment. His own left arm had just been severed as “punishment” by one of Aizen's lackeys; Tōsen, righteous Shinigami bastard that he was... all that “justice” bullshit he kept prattling on about. Grimmjow knew hatred and contempt when he saw it <em> especially </em> when it was directed at a Hollow.</p><p>Yammy at least had managed to bring his arm back to Hueco Mundo with him, had it sewn back on. Tōsen had torched his, leaving Grimmjow with a slowly healing <em> stump </em> and little way of knowing if he'd manage to regrow the missing limb. Changing into this humanoid form as Arrancar had afforded him the opportunity to reshuffle some of the more malleable parts of the chaos within himself. He'd leapt at the chance to map out for more speed, endurance, and a harder hierro. What good would regeneration do for him if he could better handle his opponent's strikes in the first place? It would have done him good right now was what....maybe he could just take a replacement arm from someone else.</p><p>Of course... the little excursion into the Human World hadn't gone as planned. Grimmjow and his facción had intended to slaughter all the spiritually aware there in that strange little Human colony. All so that “nothing interfered with the oh-so-secret bigger plans Aizen had going on.”</p><p>It had purely been to spite Ulquiorra, doing what he apparently couldn't. </p><p>That place had been strange. The moment Grimmjow had set foot in that area his senses had been assaulted with the oddly <em> pure </em> nature of the reimyaku it exuded. Soft. It was much more steady than the chaotic pulse of Hueco Mundo but nowhere near as dense. It left him a little short of breath and that gnawing hunger already beginning to tickle up his spine. It did, however, amuse him to no end that this stark difference meant that Ulquiorra's shared visions either weren't as perfect as he would have Aizen believe or these sensations had been withheld from the group for whatever reason; either way he <em> could </em> lie <em> . </em>That was a valuable bit of information.</p><p>They had <em> intended </em> slaughter... but....</p><p>Grimmjow observed the empty den. </p><p>The Shinigami of the Gotei had almost been lying in ambush, just a handful, and he was beginning to think a few things had happened at once. Perhaps that place's strange nature had given the Shinigami a boost as there was no way Shawlong and the others were that damned <em> weak </em> . No way the Shinigami could manage to suppress their power <em> that much </em> that <em> his </em>facción had been taken down in surprise. </p><p>Shawlong had the sense to order a retreat if it had come to that, shameful as it might have been. Grimmjow was confident that either of them would have <em> sensed it </em> if the Shinigami had been masking. He wouldn't have tracked down the very <em> prize </em> of the hunt on his own and even that whelp seemed stronger than in the vision, managing to give Grimmjow a crack in his hierro right up the middle of his torso. </p><p>Oddly it was even... even like that Kurosaki had used a weakly-formed <em> cero </em> inside his attack. That wasn't possible, only Menos Hollows could manifest a cero. Yet here was the unmistakable scent of a cero burn full in Grimmjow’s face and a distinct sensation he'd just been challenged by some puffed up little punk Hollow for stepping into his territory. Worse still was that this was evidence that the Shinigami had been at least somewhat successful in doing what Aizen had in creating augmented Arrancar like himself...only in reverse. </p><p>That of course, was absurd. Hollows were always changing, it was in their very nature. Shinigami were like Humans and stuck in one form. Was it even possible to destabilize a spiritual being like a Shinigami to that degree? Their Zanpakutō, their soul-cutter swords, maybe...but not <em> them </em>.</p><p>Shawlong would have known... that or given some sage speculation...</p><p>Lacking any better course of action for the moment, Grimmjow grabbed the nearest thing he could reach and flung it across the spartan room. The table cracked the stone, pieces of quartz and granite crashing in all directions. Whatever nick-knacks had been on it were now scattered in with the debris, scent whirling around from all over. It made things worse.</p><p>Barricade. Think. Heal.</p><p>Three things. Two too many to handle in the moment and one spinning out of control.</p><p>Grimmjow had made the landing on the fourth floor of his tower far too distracted. He'd not noticed the dusty scent of the open balcony doors until he saw the slim figure of some unfamiliar female Arrancar silhouetted against that annoying daylight. </p><p>She wasn't just perched “innocently” on the railing outside either but standing expectantly within the threshold. Grimmjow was in no mood to deal with a trespasser but that itch, the one wanting something to <em> eat, </em> was becoming hard to ignore as his body tried to heal itself the way it needed to. Feeding schedules be damned! </p><p>It was another in a long list of things that had gone wrong.</p><p>Grimmjow hated tentacles. Szayel had a lot to do with that but he <em> hated them </em> all the same.</p><p>These were much thicker and the colour of bleached bone, cracking his head to the side as one had immediately twirled around his neck. A second one had grabbed his wrist just as he'd partially drawn his blade. No matter. It was exposed just enough.</p><p>“<em> Grind! Pant- </em>”</p><p>The release command died on his lips. Not because the tentacle was squeezing, no. Much worse.</p><p>“Grind. Pan<em> tera </em>,” his assailant purred. It was roughly then that Grimmjow realized he hadn't been attempting to attack a female but a sylph taking advantage of the transition into light his prey's eyes would make...and that was what Grimmjow knew himself to be at the moment; prey.</p><p>“Aww, isn't this supposed to be the part where the rest of you comes together in that <em> wonderful </em> torrent of power, Kitty?” Pale lavender eyes gazed wide, expectantly. There was a barely containable glee behind them that hinted the little psychopath of withered vines enjoyed playing with his meals. </p><p>Grimmjow's blood had run cold but he was in too much of a rage still to really show it. That helped. There were <em> more </em> tentacles in the brief pause when his utterance of the release command had faltered. Both his legs were ensnared, pulling opposite the one around his throat. A fifth had come out from behind the other Arrancar. It wrapped around the base of Pantera's sheath and yanked the blade free from the sash of his uniform. Grimmjow hadn't made it easy, his grip had been tight on the hilt but this intruder was already in his resurrección, annoying extra limbs and all. The tentacle retracted with its prize towards the Arrancar's main body.</p><p>The whole thing was an extraordinary exercise in willpower; how long Grimmjow could actually keep his shit together before he began thrashing like a mindless beast in desperation or his expression changed from anything but that of pure, <em> murderous </em> contempt. </p><p>Stay sane.</p><p>Stay in control.</p><p>He was on his own now.</p><p>“You know...Grimm-Grimm... I thought you needed <em> both </em> of your arms to release this thing? I'm sorry, but I mean it just doesn't seem that you're cut out for this whole Espada gig are you? Retirement with the Privaron is going to <em> suck </em> for you, isn't it?”</p><p>Grimmjow's expression must have faltered because the intruder's smile turned coy.</p><p>“Oh? You must not have gotten the memo yet,” The Arrancar still held onto Pantera but had flopped his lengthy sleeve back to expose a delicate hand. His white uniform, the part that covered his torso at least, had openings that exposed both his flanks and it was at his right hip that he pulled his black sash down a bit. </p><p>Darkly contrasted against the hierro-hardened flesh of his hip was the stiff angles of the number six.</p><p>“<em>I'm </em> your replacement! Sexta Espada, Luppi Antenor.” </p><p>Luppi rolled his shoulders, looking around with a pleased grin, the grip around Grimmjow's neck suddenly tightening enough to pop vertebra. “Really, I just came to check this place out and see how much <em> trash </em> I'm going to have to deal with when I move in. Most of it seems to have taken itself out, Oh look, your face is turning as blue as the rest of you! My, what a lovely colour.”</p><p><em> Replaced? </em> It hadn't even been an hour yet!</p><p>The tentacle around his neck loosened just a bit, enough to stop the dark edges from creeping into his line of sight. Luppi seemed to know just how long and hard to squeeze before his prey lost consciousness and the fun stopped.</p><p>“Ah, but that's not the only reason I'm here.” While Grimmjow remained suspended in place, Luppi sauntered forward. The little bastard grinned and leaned in beneath his tattered jacket, taking great pleasure in licking up the trail of blood on his ribs. Pulling back, Luppi smacked his lips and hummed.</p><p>“Not quite what I expected but <em> interesting. </em> Grimm-Grimm, the two of us have a sizable problem between us...and as you're about to join the Privaron...”</p><p>Grimmjow grit his teeth, still glaring. He hated waiting. Hated this situation more. The “Espada” under Aizen's rule did not share their numbered brands. What Grimmjow hadn't counted on was his entire mind and body locking up in absolute <em> revulsion </em> to what happened next. </p><p>Hollows all shared one single characteristic, from the newly formed to the Vasto Lordes and Arrancar, it was all the same and had given them their namesake. A hole, one that seemingly punched clean through their body and remained open as an empty, yawning void. That hollowed out spot was usually somewhere through their chest, as if their hearts had been ripped from them but not always.</p><p>Through the haze Grimmjow could feel Luppi's thorny little talons scraping the walls of him, leaving jagged trails of some unnameable sensation. None of it stopped until the Arrancar's hand had passed through the opening in his abdomen, palm curling around till Luppi could lay it flat against the right side of his lower back. </p><p>“Your number is around here somewhere, riiiight?” </p><p>All he could feel then was agony.</p><p>Burning flesh.</p><p>Red cero-light.</p><p>The energy racing through his hollow.</p><p>It traced up the crack in his hierro, searing deep.</p><p>The opportunity couldn't be more <em> perfect </em>.</p><p>Luppi played with his food. It was a game Grimmjow had been on the receiving end of far too many times when he was younger to not know how to handle himself.</p><p>He leaned on his rage, dragging up every drop of reiatsu within himself and <em> flared </em>. </p><p>The entire tower shuttered under the sudden release of spiritual pressure, no doubt every Hollow beneath the dome of Las Noches felt him then and he wasn't even <em> done </em> yet!</p><p>Luppi flinched, arm-deep in the middle of it all and desperately struggling to pull away. The action gave slack in the tentacles, a microsecond permitting Grimmjow the angle he needed. </p><p>Fangs crunched down through the offending appendage leaving his neck. Grimmjow concentrated his efforts on draining out as much of the little bastard's reiryoku as possible while he could even as the tentacles retracted in agonized coils.</p><p>Luppi tore himself loose, stepping back with a high-pitched snarl. Those lavender eyes of his went indignantly wide as it dawned on him his former prey was <em> chewing </em>.</p><p>Grimmjow stood smouldering and bloody, gaze still fixed upon this very unwelcome intruder.</p><p>The last of the chunk he'd bitten off the other Arrancar was swallowed leisurely through a feral grin. </p><p>“Not what I expected...” Grimmjow echoed hoarsely. Indeed the taste was foul.</p><p>Arm now free he stretched it out in front of him, tell-tale red glow of a cero balling up between his clawed digits. It pulled on his reiryoku more than normal, flashes of blue sparking intermittently around his palm. </p><p>“Luppi Antenor.”</p><p>Grimmjow stilled at the new voice. Soft. Level. A particular timbre resembling hoarse whispers.</p><p>Dammit. </p><p>It was then that <em> he </em> flickered into sight between the two of them, his back to Grimmjow.</p><p>“The hell do <em> you </em> want? I'm busy here, step aside Ulquiorra!” Luppi grit. </p><p>The figure that had wafted between them like a breath was shorter than Grimmjow, sylph-like but not in the same way that Luppi was. He carried some alien, willowy grace to himself that was all too easy to mistake for fragility. </p><p>The interruption had Grimmjow grinding his teeth again, a low growl in his throat that under the circumstances he fought to suppress in the presence of this particular visitor. Hesitantly he let his cero fizzle out. It was pulling on him far too much to keep manifested and remain on his feet at the same time. He needed his guard instead, wrangle his scattered senses back into place before it was too late.</p><p>“Lord Aizen has instructed me to remind you that your position is temporary, Luppi Antenor. The tower of the Sexta Espada is to remain with its current owner until the probationary period has passed for the both of you.” Ulquiorra's tone never changed, volume remaining just as quiet as his first uttering.</p><p>Probationary period? That seemed unlike Aizen. Demotion into the Privaron was usually swift. </p><p>“My quarters are too <em> small </em>, and Kitten over there can't even go into his resurrección anymore! Not without both his arms!” Luppi whined.</p><p>Grimmjow narrowed his eyes as Ulquiorra half-turned to look back at him. </p><p>Fried senses were a blessing in this case. He couldn't feel the all-encompassing sensation of that emerald gaze. Ulquiorra's eyes were Human to a point, the iris a touch too large, but that illusion shattered at the vertical slit of his pupil, a flash of gold as the light caught just right. They sat beneath thick, black brows that melded with some of the estigma markings on his face forming a diamond shape on the inside of each. His upper lip was no more than a calligraphic stroke of void-black, same as his hair. The rest of him was chalk-white, hierro smooth enough to give him the appearance of being carved of living stone. </p><p>Grimmjow could scarcely tell where the white of him ended and the white of his uniform began were it not for the texture of the fabric. Even the remnants of the shattered mask he'd once had before becoming an Arrancar were unusual. It covered most of the left side of his head, part of a helmet or skull with one short horn sweeping backwards. Silver-white rather than bleached bone.</p><p>The only other colour about Ulquiorra, save in his rare gaze, was visible to Grimmjow again courtesy of his fried senses; a thin stroke of emerald running vertically beneath each eye to his jawline. Had he been able to see just a touch deeper into the Espada's layers those too would have been black...and wide... as if his eyes constantly bled and dripped down beneath the high collar of his uniform with a much thinner stripe continuing upwards into his hairline. Surely Luppi wasn't so blind as to not notice <em> those </em>.</p><p>Ulquiorra finally looked away from Grimmjow.</p><p>“Had I allowed you to continue, Luppi Antenor, you would have been ash.” The Epada's voice still carried the even tone. “Lord Aizen's plans do not need more complications.”</p><p>Grimmjow didn't know what to make of <em> that </em>. Ulquiorra was not one to venture outside of strict observations, but it seemed the closest thing to a compliment that he'd ever heard. </p><p>His shocked expression didn't last long, turning back into the feral grin as he turned his attention to Luppi's glorious seething.</p><p>“I advise you to return to your area.”</p><p>“<em>HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE HIS </em> <b> <em>SWORD</em></b><em>!” </em></p><p>Ulquiorra never responded, turning instead to face Grimmjow with hands still politely in his pockets and posture rail-stiff. Luppi's little meltdown continued up until Ulquiorra snapped his hand out to his side, catching Pantera by the sheath as it hurled towards them.</p><p>Grimmjow wasn't quite sure if it had been flung on accident or thrown at them. Luppi had donned an expression Grimmjow could scarcely recognize before fleeing the tower entirely, tentacles trailing behind him. Ulquiorra, as usual, remained completely without reaction. Barely a blink.</p><p>“I trust you have assessed your position at this point, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez.” </p><p>Bastard. </p><p>Ulquiorra seemed scarcely able to interact without formality, insisted by those Shinigami, but now he'd dropped the title of “Sexta Espada” when it came to his full address. He hadn't acknowledged it of Luppi at least...in fact it almost seemed like he disapproved of him. Grimmjow knew he had to be imagining that.</p><p>“Tch, I need to kill that little twerp if I wanna keep my spot. Don't need <em> you </em> tellin' me that.”</p><p>Grimmjow watched as the other Espada stepped over, flipping a switch on the wall. Mechanically the heavy shutters leading to the balcony began moving. Ulquiorra remained inside, still holding Pantera as the darkness began to enclose them.</p><p>The instinct to cower back in submission was already crackling at the edges of thought. Grimmjow ignored it. Giving in would no doubt prove fatal under the circumstances. Rage again proved a valuable crutch.</p><p>Ulquiorra showed no signs of aggression, never had, he'd always kept the detectable traces of his reiatsu hovering around the levels of the lowly Numeros if he even showed it at all. Amusingly some of the Numeros even thought Ulquiorra <em> was </em> one of them from time to time if they'd never seen him elsewhere.</p><p>Grimmjow knew better. To an extent anyways.</p><p>The top four, the Vasto Lordes, were all like that to some degree. Each of them with power tucked deceptively away, numbers concealed. It was if an agreement had been made between them that ensured any lesser Espada who tried to make a bid for their ranks had to be willing to gamble that it wasn't the Primera they attacked. The Lordes didn't even fight among themselves, smart, even if he still thought it was cowardice towards Aizen.</p><p>Ulquiorra only moved once the shutters had locked, passing Grimmjow on his way to the stairs.</p><p>“HEY!”</p><p>Grimmjow went after him. </p><p>“I didn't need a <em> fuckin' </em> rescue back there, <em> pet!</em>”</p><p>The mess of the lowest level again came into view as Grimmjow caught up, the Arrancar ahead of him paying it no mind. He paused by the bolted door.</p><p>“Don’t get the wrong idea. My presence here is only to ensure promising assets remain in place. Lord Aizen has made it clear he prefers that the Espada in Las Noches be capable of a Vasto Lorde's power by the time this war of his gains traction.” Ulquiorra didn't look back at him.</p><p>Grimmjow felt the sting of insult but the statement...</p><p>“Ingratiate yourself with Starrk. He occasionally trains in a canyon North of the citadel.”</p><p>The suggestion had some of the gears spinning about in Grimmjow's mind lock up again. Starrk? <em>Coyote</em> <em>Starrk?!</em> He was one of the four and <em>damn good</em> with ceros if his reputation were true. Why would...</p><p>Ulquiorra was halfway out the door before he paused again, this time Grimmjow was met with the same sideways gaze of before, expressionless, his voice monotone. “You would do well to remember at this point, Grimmjow, that Gran Rey Ceros are forbidden within Las Noches.” </p><p>The white coattails of the Vasto Lorde were all Grimmjow could see of his leaving, breath-like as he'd come.</p><p>Only after he'd bolted the door back in place, counted off the seconds as he leaned against it, did Grimmjow let himself start to feel the aches and exhaustion threatening to overtake him. </p><p>“A Gran Rey, huh?” Grimmjow looked at his bloody, blistered palm. It would have blown his other arm off had he had let it loose unaware a moment ago. Luppi <em> definitely </em>would have been ash.</p><p>There was also the suggestion to approach Starrk, no doubt to learn how to control such such a thing.</p><p>Grimmjow's teeth grit again. Did Ulquiorra really think <em> he </em> needed babysitting like that big oaf Yammy, the Décimo? Like HELL he was going to be added to that pathetic collection of <em> pets </em>.</p><p>He slid down the door, just to give his legs some reprieve, and noticed Ulquiorra had left Pantera leaning against the wall not far from him. </p><p>It would take hours to rid Luppi's stench of wilt and rotten detritus from himself and the den, scents he should have found more prominent on that sheath where the little bastard had held it tight. Instead it was if those foul markers had been erased entirely. Pantera barely smelled of anything at all...a little damp earth and ozone. What that meant, Grimmjow had no idea.</p><p>Still... what now?</p><p>The den was empty. Quiet but for the wet sounds of his breathing.</p><p>Barricaded. </p><p>That chunk of Luppi he'd swallowed gave him <em> something </em> to heal with though it hadn't been much.</p><p>Now to think.</p><p>Scattered mess.</p><p>Ulquiorra was unmistakably Aizen's lapdog. Grimmjow <em> knew </em> he could lie. </p><p>So... this new challenge to his station... Luppi already branded with that number...the unheard of probationary period...Ulquiorra suddenly showing up...the suggestion to seek out Starrk...</p><p>Was this Aizen's d- no, everything was Aizen's puppetry around Las Noches. It always had been.</p><p>No, what Grimmjow needed to know was if this was Aizen forcing him to overcome shit-odds and make a bid at being Quinta Espada, leaving Luppi with the sixth's position...</p><p>....or if it was a genuine invitation to prove his worth to the Vasto Lordes since they seemed uninterested in the current Quinta Aizen had put in their sights. Surely that Shinigami would stand aside to let the four exercise such an instinct? Was that why Ulquiorra acted as he did? Did he willingly endure shit from all sides like a good little pet just to be afforded a right as a <em> treat? </em></p><p>Disgraceful. For a Vasto Lorde it was....all kinds of wrong...</p><p>Were the four interested in <em> him?</em> Was he on the cusp of becoming one himself? A true fifth?</p><p>Was Ulquiorra the one he had to prove himself to for that? Why <em> him?</em> Was <em> he </em> the Primera? No way.</p><p>Whatever the reasons Grimmjow knew he needed to move forward without his facción, without his full power, and without both his arms. </p><p>There was really nothing left to lose now and too much was impossibly wrong with everything. </p><p>That brought out a broken cackle.</p><p>Move forward? Oh yes, he'd move forward against the tide of oh-so-careful plans and Shinigami mind-games. Bide his time until he could regain his arm and control this budding new power. He'd take measure of that Kurosaki twerp that seemed to unnerve Aizen, devour him, and then?</p><p>Aizen sure did like to play with his food... and Grimmjow hated being looked down on most of all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. El Primero</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again a big thanks to Rayvenstorm for being my guinea pig (beta) on this one. I realized I forgot to give a link during the thanks last time so go give Rayvenstorm some love https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayvenfire12</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Karin stood out front of the candy shop.</p><p>
  <em> “Not just any Hollow's egg... but apparently the egg of a Vasto Lorde.” </em>
</p><p>None of that made sense. Not in ANY realm.</p><p>The subject of “ghost babies” had once briefly come up with Isshin since the three kids were, in essence, half spirit. It was the awkward sex-talk all over again with a supernatural flair and couch cushions had gotten chucked amid juvenile jokes. The ability to produce children was strictly a thing belonging to the living, so it seemed. Isshin, ashamed, had even admitted to reacting badly for a while when Masaki had found out she was pregnant with Ichigo. Gigai couldn't be built for that kind of thing and Isshin had nearly strangled Urahara, thinking he'd done something <em> clever. </em></p><p>No one knew how the three of them happened, they still didn't. </p><p>Spirits in Soul Society went through the motions, sure, but “having a kid” usually just involved coming across an unclaimed infant soul or one so young that they could be raised as a child with whatever family laid claim to them. Everyone in the Rukongai districts otherwise just formed found families wherever and whenever they could. The afterlife was more than a little depressing like that.</p><p>Things were a little different for the more established families in the Seireitei, however, the Noble Houses especially. They tracked the souls through the cycle of rebirth, and while they couldn’t control where such souls ended up being born within the living world they certainly knew where they’d end up upon crossing back into the Soul Society. Doing so fostered the growth of abilities and power within those souls, <em> made </em> Shinigami and Kidō Masters and whatever else there was that each family specialized in maintaining. </p><p>New members were only brought in if they showed promise of bolstering those legacies.</p><p>Karin was quite sure Hollows would just devour anything so fragile rather than foster it but... now there was this egg.</p><p>She could understand completely why Urahara was giddy; it was an impossible thing he'd come across. He wanted to know everything about it and had promptly filled Karin in on the “hows” of how he'd come to be in possession of such a thing. </p><p>A little over a week ago an Arrancar called Nelliel had ripped open a tear between the Human World and Hueco Mundo right in the dirt lot of the candy shop. The name was familiar, Karin was sure Ichigo had mentioned her at some point and Urahara said she'd saved his life a few times during the fight with the Wandenreich. Nel had been carrying the egg and shoved it at Urahara telling him to “keep it safe” before hopping right back through the tear. </p><p>Urahara hadn't a clue what he was holding until he'd subjected the thing to a few scans. Karin had seen those too. She didn't know what all the data suggested but she could tell from the massive spike of reiryoku it registered that “Vasto Lorde” was an apt description. The density readings also resembled an ultrasound of a human fetus.... if it had several extra limbs... but maybe that was just a Hollow-thing.</p><p>Shinigami had come poking around, having detected an Arrancar in the area of an unauthorized rift, but Urahara and Tessai had been able to get them to leave easy enough. Nelliel was known and apparently possessed an item Urahara designed for her that regularly needed servicing. The time the Shinigami had left had been roughly the same time things started to go wrong with the “egg” forcing Urahara and Tessai to scramble to try and replicate the kind of environment it might have been in. </p><p>The egg had mostly been stabilized in the lab by the time Tier Harribel managed to make contact some hours later.</p><p>She was the last Vasto Lorde from Aizen's Espada, number three. The Queen of Las Noches.</p><p>Lorde Harribel had been quick to give better insight on how the egg should be kept, resulting in the current setup in the bunker. It was also decided then that the egg was in too fragile a state to cross back into Hueco Mundo. </p><p>The whole thing had been an accident. </p><p>Lorde Harribel and some of her subordinates had been searching for other Vasto Lordes and Arrancar when they'd come across the egg. Retrieving it had started some kind of territorial dispute and Nelliel had been in a situation with the egg where escape through the Garganta, the void between worlds, had been her only option. “Safe” for Nel had apparently meant finding Ichigo in what she considered his territory, as she had once before, and when he wasn't there it meant trusting the egg to people she considered his “facción” before hopping back into the fray. </p><p>Karin had, for a hot second, thought the egg was Ichigo's love child with Nel from the way Urahara described things. Their family was weird, it wasn't off the table...logic be damned. The other thing she caught on to was that large chunks of information seemed to be missing and Karin wasn't sure if it was because of Lorde Harribel or Urahara. Maybe it was something the impending “guest” could answer.</p><p>She tapped her toe against the dirt ground outside the shop and turned back to where Urahara had sat down on the edge of the genkan.</p><p>“So this guy you've made the gigai for...he has a name, right?” Karin stepped back into the shop, thumbs tucked into her belt loops.</p><p>Urahara nodded, “indeed he does. Grimmjow... and a secondary name I struggle to pronounce. Jagger-Jack I think?” He chuckled, “to tell the truth he looks very different than the gigai. The sampling process can only isolate the human parts in Arrancar.”</p><p>“Is that going to start things off on the wrong foot with him?”</p><p>He shook his head, “he's a surly one by nature, blunt. If anything he'll be far more displeased with having to stay in a giagi and <em> feel </em> human any time he wants outside the bunker, regardless of how many modifications I've done. You're going to have to help remind him he needs to stay buttoned up or stay inside. I've designed his gigai to contain his reiryoku so he shouldn't feel as hungry as quickly without it... and of course he'll be invisible to Soul Society's sensors.” Urahara sighed and fanned himself. “I'm quite sure none of us want to deal with that.”</p><p>“Not sure he's got a reason to listen to me, Mr. Urahara.”</p><p>The laugh caught her off guard and again came the Cheshire smirk, “ah, but you very much do! That's the beauty of this situation, you see, Grimmjow looks to your brother as a rival. A <em> very </em> respectable rival at that.” Urahara twirled his finger around in the air, “remember how I mentioned Nelliel looked at Karakura Town as Ichigo's territory? The same can be said of Grimmjow.”</p><p>“I...don't follow?” Ichigo would have mentioned a “rival” and she'd sure remember the name.</p><p>“Ah, well, I do hate to give the game away early. I imagine <em> that </em> conversation is best had between the two of you at some point.” He shrugged and leaned back on one arm, “just a hint though: it might best serve you to borrow Ichigo's pillow or something to sleep on. Smell like him. Grimmjow hasn't come across your spiritual presence before but once he smells Ichigo it's as good as a name card to a Hollow.”</p><p>Karin scrunched up her nose at that but it made sense. At the very least her brother had a strong aversion to colognes and the like so she'd only have to put up with his fairly neutral guy funk.</p><p>“The game? I thought you were wanting me to be your assistant on this?” Karin quirked a brow at his shadowed expression, “seems like the more I know before he gets here, the better.”</p><p>“Ah. That may be correct for some things but this?” Urahara shook his head, “here it's best a blank slate be made of you. Can you think of why?”</p><p>She came close to saying 'no.' Urahara had a thing for watching people <em> squirm </em> trying to figure out whatever he was up to and even more of a thing for explaining himself when they failed to understand something in the first place. He was just that kind of teacher. What had stopped Karin's 'no' had been the direct question: why <em> would </em> it be best she went in blind?</p><p>The whole “learn for yourself” aspect was too much of a given as was “question everything.” That Urahara was new to the egg-thing was expected as well but he had far more experience with the physiology of spirits and Karin would be fairly useless except as an extra set of hands. </p><p>
  <em> It would be a rare opportunity for you as well. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> You are in a unique position to assist me. </em>
</p><p>Karin's heart beat a little faster, a strange sort of knot beginning to twist up in her stomach.</p><p>“I...need to approach Grimmjow with as few biases as possible. He's <em> my </em> interview subject.”</p><p>The sudden light in Urahara's keen eyes said it all.</p><p>Grimmjow was an Arrancar, likely one of Aizen's if he was from Las Noches along with Lorde Harribel. Urahara had mentioned Aizen leaving “scars” on Hueco Mundo and though Karin didn't know exactly what that meant yet she did have a feeling quite a bit of Grimmjow's “surly” attitude was going to be rooted in a hatred of Shinigami. The Gotei 13 had invaded Las Noches during the Winter War with a small battalion, enough to take down as many of the formidable Espada as possible before they could cross over into the Human World. The Wandenreich had very nearly glassed the place later, capturing Lorde Harribel to ensure control of the Arrancar they managed to enslave as fodder in their own assault against the Seireitei. </p><p>Rumour from some of the Shinigami that stopped by the shop occasionally was that there were probably less than two hundred Arrancar in Las Noches now, “less terrifying” than the numbers that had been there during Aizen's day. It made their part in the treaty seem more like pity.</p><p>“What should I even be <em> asking </em> him?” Karin ran her fingers up through her hair, the question more to herself. Even after she'd spoken the words it began to dawn on her that the “obvious” was probably the best. It was all about the egg. Grimmjow was being sent to care for the egg and all the hows and whys of <em> that </em> needed to be answered before anything else... and as much as could be done for his comfort too. How long would he even be stuck there in the Human World until the egg was able to be moved...or hatched?</p><p>“You've gone to Hueco Mundo before, Mr. Urahara. Don't you have... notes? Something?” Karin held up her hands, “not notes on Grimmjow but... you know, some basic things about Menos and Arrancar that might be different from the Hollows here. A <em> greeting </em> maybe?”</p><p>Urahara chuckled softly, “Karin, I do think you're beginning to over think things. Go sleep on it a while, the fact you're already trying to think of a greeting is good enough.”</p><p>“Maybe, but research isn't done from scratch. You've got to stand on the shoulders of the ones before even if you figure out the early stuff had errors.” She shrugged, “better understandings and all, like figuring out the Gillians are Menos and fixing the category error.”</p><p>Karin fumbled as Urahara suddenly tossed a small green notebook at her, one that he'd had tucked away in the folds of his clothing.</p><p>“I- wha?”</p><p>“As I said, go sleep on things a bit. Those notes aren't going to help nearly as much as you think.”</p><p>Karin stared down at the palm-sized notebook warped with water damage and stained with varying substances. A cord was all that held it shut with how stuffed it was of tabs and additional papers. </p><p>Urahara was infuriating sometimes.</p><p>- - -</p><p>Karin had left the shop with quite a bit more on her mind than she'd intended. Her father was thankfully over in the clinic and she'd not had to dodge another of his 'welcome homes' so soon. Yuzu had come through during the walk home. She'd sent some pictures of an assignment brief Karin remembered having to do in one of her intro courses. Sample interview questions...none of which were going to be as useful as she'd thought in this situation.</p><p>She was out of her depth and already drowning. Urahara's messy scrawl and shorthand was hard enough to read much less when he slipped into some archaic script. He made diagrams, at least, and there were a handful of photographs tucked in along with everything else. Karin put off digging in much deeper until after she'd gotten a shower, she had to be committed to this venture after all.</p><p><em> Committed </em> probably had two meanings at this point.</p><p>She had her tote with notes and Urahara's book slung over one shoulder, hair fluffed and freshly dried as she stared hard at the little “15” placard hung on Ichigo's door, one of several puns on his name and the only one he really played into. Past a certain age there was always something that felt wrong about invading a sibling's personal space while they were absent, no matter the intention. That went double for doors that were kept closed.</p><p>“This better not be a prank, Urahara...” she mumbled, opening the door.</p><p>Karin didn't know what she expected these days but for a guy Ichigo kept a tidy room. The black-out curtains were drawn on both windows to keep the heat at bay. It plunged the small space into a greenish haze of twilight, perfect for getting some sleep during the day. Running around all night on patrol was exhausting. Even if their physical bodies got plenty of rest it wasn't the same as a proper bit of shut-eye. Karin honestly didn't know how Ichigo had managed back in the early days when he'd been juggling his “super-hero” life with being a teenager and school. Grades and attendance had suffered, that had been for sure.</p><p>Simply confiscating his pillow wasn't really going to cut it. Once Karin had the windows opened and the floor fan going to get some air circulating she flopped down atop the covers, setting to work looking through the notebook. </p><p>Most of it was useless for the task, as Urahara had said. A collection of disjointed thoughts from the days of the Wandenreich occupation in Hueco Mundo. Of the two wars it had been the most brutal, a last gasp of pure rage from a hidden city of Quincy and the demigod that served as their emperor. Nine days of madness. So many had fallen that getting a clear sequence of events was nigh impossible but from what Karin could gather it had been one part revenge and one part “destruction of everything.”</p><p>She remembered the “earthquakes” that had shaken the entire Human World as the demigod Yhwach had tried to pull all three realms back into pure chaos, to “erase the fear of death” or something of the sort. It really made no sense and it hadn't made much sense to the bulk of the Quincy once Yhwach set about <em> doing </em> his thing. They'd wanted to destroy the Shinigami and to wipe “demon” Hollows out of existence... but not at the cost of existence itself. It had made for strange alliances towards the end, Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow all working together, even a few other types of demi-human that had been on the periphery. </p><p>The hatred remained afterwards. There wasn't any escaping it just for that single moment of desperate need. All it <em> had </em> done was give a long enough pause for consideration for each faction to realize continuing to fight one another at such a scale was going to ensure mutual destruction. So far the treaty they had struck was holding. </p><p>Not for the first time, Karin wondered what the hell Urahara was thinking in keeping the egg a secret in the Human World. Maybe he just knew something she didn't, that was usually the case with him. Fingers in every pie.</p><p>It was rather sobering seeing Urahara's desperate scrawling and frustration in thick strike-outs on the note pages. Most of it she knew was on a computer somewhere but the bones of his ideas were usually written by hand. Most of it was trying to figure out how the Wandenreich were structured militarily, the advancements in their tech and techniques, the powers of the Sternritter, how they could outright <em> steal </em> a Shinigami's bankai and why it didn't work against Ichigo's bankai. That last part took less than half a page before Urahara had a eureka moment, encircling “hybrid” a number of times. He turned his attention to the Arrancar after that.</p><p>No, Urahara himself hadn't turned his attention to the Arrancar. </p><p>Karin recognized Orihime's neat script the same time she remembered Orihime and Chad, two of Ichigo's inner circle, had been in Hueco Mundo then too. Both were demi-humans, having strange powers as the Quincy did. In the case of Chad, he could materialize armour on both his arms that augmented his strength; the guy had a <em> wicked </em> left hook. Orihime was much stranger, her powers manifesting through a set of ordinary hairpins her brother had given her shortly before his death. The focal items allowed her to shield against some surprisingly strong forces but more importantly she could <em> heal </em>. Karin wasn't sure just how many times Orihime had scraped Ichigo's mangled body off the ground but it was surely more times than either let on.</p><p>Healing seemed what Orihime was doing while in Hueco Mundo. Her neat hand was much easier to follow than Urahara's. Apparently at the time of writing the small group had taken refuge in a ruin the Hollow called Negal. Urahara had base camp set up giving triage to the Arrancar returning from skirmishes and rescues against the Wandenreich's hunting force, the Jagdarmee, around Las Noches. </p><p>Orihime wrote more personable than Urahara, she clearly knew some of the Arrancar from back during the Winter War. Back when she'd been held captive. Nelliel's name came up more than once. Urahara's later notes off to the side suggested he had been using Orihime's familiarity with the Arrancar to figure out something. Leadership in the absence of Lorde Harribel perhaps. “Nel” he thought was the one pulling the strings or was a key string to pull. Orihime viewed her as “cute Nel” showing her around the carnage and to Arrancar who were in bad shape.</p><p>“Grim Jaw Jaguar-Jack” was a surprise when Karin read the katakana. She wondered if she'd heard Urahara correctly when he'd said Grimmjow's name but it soon seemed like it was just Orihime not knowing how to write it any other way. Urahara tended to use “Grim” in his notes for that Arrancar.</p><p>Karin briefly wondered if she should stop reading before she knew too much of what Orihime thought about Grimmjow but... that too could be part of the interview; what other people saw him as. That and the photographs she spotted earlier were tucked away on the next page. Karin really couldn't help herself.</p><p>Negal had been occupied by the Arrancar before Urahara and the others arrived, the bulk of them deep enough under the surface that the Jagdarmee couldn't detect them for all the layers of ash and sand. Grimmjow had brought them there, the place an old haunt of his. It had been from there that he'd been leading his own hunting parties against the Jagdarmee, one of which had “captured” Orihime and the others. He'd put her to work immediately, knowing full well the capabilities of her healing power. Grimmjow had been far less certain about Chad but Urahara he'd nearly killed were it not for Nel stopping him.</p><p>Urahara's notes on Nel suddenly made more sense when Karin spotted a note on Grimmjow. </p><p>
  <em> Secondary survivor, Espada #6 </em>
</p><p>“Urahara...the <em> hell </em>...”</p><p>Hollows supposedly followed power. Vasto Lordes like Harribel, ruled them. From what Karin knew of the Espada and of Harribel being ranked third it meant Grimmjow had been next in line. He ran the hunting parties <em> himself </em> which either meant he was the strongest available to stand up to the Jagdarmee or he was just too pissed off not to go after them. Either way the guy was comparable to some kind of warlord. It was unreal that Urahara failed to mention <em> that </em> detail.</p><p>But...</p><p>Orihime didn't sound scared of him. Intimidated, sure, but not scared. She wrote that “it was good to see he was still alive.” Karin would have called Orihime right then and there had she not been part of the vacation group.</p><p>Karin browsed through the photographs. Some were of Wandenreich tech, some weird disk-thing, but <em> then </em> there was the series of night-vision shots.</p><p>Most all of them were from some low angle, not correctly framed. Candid things. The first was of Orihime knelt down outside of what looked like a tent, Urahara's back just visible through the opening as he worked on something. Orihime was smiling, like she was in the middle of saying “go on then,” to whatever tiny thing controlled the camera. </p><p>The second shot was of presumably a pair of Adjuchas resting against one another exhausted, both a contrast to the Arrancar in tattered white uniforms or cloaks around them. The back of the photo read “<em> Pesche and Dondochakka, Nelliel's brothers/faction </em> .” There were other photos of Arrancar in the underground, some looking more human than others, all either in various states of exhaustion or healing but only rarely did it seem like the whole lot wasn't just <em> waiting. </em> It was an agitated hive rather than a forlorn group of survivors.</p><p>The last two photographs were above ground, probably at the entrance to Negal. One was unintentionally artsy, Hueco Mundo's desert stretched out to the star-less horizon with the moon off to the side somewhere casting long shadows on the ground. A few dozen Arrancar were making their way towards the camera <em>at</em> <em>speed, </em>the long exposure making each no more than a trailing dark blur. </p><p>The other...</p><p><em> First Arrancar selfie: Nel and Grim </em>, the back read.</p><p>The somewhat blurry photo was of an Arrancar the size and approximate age of a toddler. Her curly hair poked out every which way from beneath a cartoonish human skull mask atop her head with a giant crack splitting it. Aligned with the crack was a jagged scar that continued down across the bridge of her nose and partially into her right eye socket, interrupting some kind of facial marking that stretched from cheek to grinning cheek. That smile was <em> all </em> ecstatic joy, exposing a pair of little tusks in her lower teeth. So that was Nelliel? She was tucked in a chastised manner beneath the arm of the Arrancar the gigai was built for and Urahara was right, he didn't look too much like it. </p><p>This version of Grimmjow was harsher, washed out from the camera's exposure but still a great deal paler than the gigai, his hair some lighter colour not afforded by the settings. There was a kind of thick “winged eyeliner” like-marking faintly beneath each eye, gaze wary as he looked at the camera Nel had pointed at them. Karin could see the edge of his broken mask but it was on the right side of his face and not the one facing the camera, a little covered by the cloak and hood he had pulled up. He was bloody but the blood didn't seem to be his and that look on his face. Karin had seen that look a lot.</p><p>Nel was indeed a string to pull and it looked like she was Grimmjow's if that “annoyed big brother” look was genuine. </p><p>Karin made her way past the rest of the relevant information, Orihime's writing and doodles once again turning to Urahara's scrawls, this time about lights, shadows, then something about “Ignis” and star-eaters. It almost seemed like Urahara had tricked his way into knowing Grimmjow. He'd probably had to too but it still didn't feel right. Maybe the only redeeming thing about this whole endeavour was that the two Arrancar knew Ichigo and it seemed more like they'd come seeking out <em> him </em> rather than Urahara. Maybe Grimmjow was expecting him to show up at some point but that wouldn't be for another few weeks.</p><p>She shut the notebook, casting a glance to the meagre tips she'd jotted down for herself.</p><p>Yeah, the notebook was fairly useless but not entirely. </p><p>Perhaps it was a mistake to assume upfront that Arrancar handled the aftermath of war and grief the same as Humans did but they <em> did </em> want to keep their world “safe” as it applied to Hollows. The partnerships during the last war were proof enough of that and Lorde Harribel was seeking out other Arrancar and Vasto Lordes desperately enough to start territorial disputes over <em> an egg</em>. </p><p>Was it even an egg? </p><p>Karin hadn't seen any kind of yolk to the structure on the density scan.</p><p>Maybe it was more like a tiny cocoon for a Vasto Lorde? </p><p>That made a bit more sense. They were supposed to “feed it” in that soup-pit so... maybe?</p><p>Karin huffed and tossed her pen and spiral notebook down with the rest of the materials. Maybe she <em> was </em> overthinking things at this point. It was doing nothing but giving her a headache. Ichigo's pillow didn't help any, he'd beaten the thing into his own idea of comfort resulting in pilled-up stuffing. </p><p>Honestly, he needed a new one but for this “scent thing” it was probably ideal. </p><p>What even <em> did </em> a Hollow smell that was like a calling card? Other than a bit of stale sweat the room smelled like the rest of the house, a bouquet of scents that had long stopped smelling of anything in particular unless something changed. It was breakfast and the curry her dad had microwaved for lunch, the chemical sanitizers from the clinic, the sandalwood and lotus incense that were alternated near their mother's memorial space...</p><p>...what was it? What was <em> him </em> in all of that that wouldn't just fade away with distance and time?</p><p>How to pick it apart... could she even do that?</p><p>How deep into the fibres had it been ground?</p><p>Woodsy? Earthy? Floral? Something vaguely like balsamic vinegar but without the tartness...peppery spice....vanilla and.... something else...something like a temple she'd visited once but couldn't place.</p><p><em> Autumn </em>.</p><p>Crunchy leaves and bonfires, warm sweaters and wool scarves just barely damp from a little rain.</p><p>Rain...water...that damp <em> deep </em> scent coming chilled from the throat of the earth and...</p><p>“Oh shit...”</p><p>There was a particular sense of vertigo that came upon realizing that she was in her Inner World. Any Shinigami worth their salt had stories of getting dragged unaware into that dreamlike realm where their Zanpakutō manifested cleanly, especially in the beginning. It came most easily in sleep but with that there was always a slight problem. Getting <em> dragged in </em> meant the Zanpakutō was calling the shots.</p><p>Karin didn't find herself standing in her usual clearing, surrounded by autumn trees and bike paths winding out to who knew where in the growing twilight. There wasn't the usual faded football field markers or net-less goals.</p><p>This time it was the entrance just inside a cave, one she'd once visited on a class trip when she was twelve. Warm autumn sunshine filtered in through trees. Vines and rainy mist created curtains of light that scattered up the walls when they hit small pools of water. Sand and gravel crunched under bare feet. Karin could see her breath on every exhale, the sounds of dripping coming from much deeper in the shadows. </p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>Karin grabbed at her waist, fingers missing the hilt of her sword. Looking down she was still in her pyjamas. That wasn't right, she should have been in the black garments of a Shinigami here, blade at her side, but her Zanpakutō clearly had other ideas.</p><p>Torn fabric was scattered everywhere at her feet, its colour so crimson she'd mistaken it for black at first. It wasn't exactly cloth either, more like a very thin leather or vellum, maybe even thick rice paper?</p><p>Fabric, why think “<em> fabric” </em> if it didn't look like that?</p><p>Why was there shredded bits of jute rope?</p><p>Why were there chains?</p><p>One chain. One long, black chain...tangled with a long, white ribbon.</p><p>Karin traced the path of the chain to where it vanished into the unnatural shadows at the back of the cave.</p><p>“Hey, aren't you going to say something?” The chain began to move into the dark, not pulled so much as it seemed to slither like the tail of some <em> something </em> that was back there. “I'm here, Spirit, and I'd like to call you something other than that.” Karin hesitated in taking a step, “I keep seeing glimpses of you outside of this place, up in the forest outside. You're always saying things from the treeline but...I still can't hear you and you're always gone when I try to find you.”</p><p>All she could hear was the sound of the chain being wound up.</p><p>“Spirit?” This time Karin did take a step forward, stopping short as she heard what sounded like someone spitting something out. An object detached itself from the shadows, landing at her feet. </p><p>It was a thumb-sized bit of bamboo threaded with a grass rope, a pair of paper shide tucked into the twisted fibres on either side. The bamboo was... <em> gnawed through</em>.</p><p>“<em>Spirit?” </em> A voice that sounded like her own echoed back from the dark.</p><p>Karin took a step back, hair standing on end.</p><p>A shape was coming forward from the shadows, the unnatural darkness seeming to flow like ink towards that singular point. </p><p>Another step backwards, step for step against the rhythm set by the chalk-white feet emerging from the dark; limbs too thin, too smooth. Wrapped in shades of shadow.</p><p>The shape that was Human but not Human was humming some old nursery tune Karin remembered loving at one point.</p><p>Alabaster lips pulled thinly into what was supposed to be a smile framing charcoal teeth.</p><p>Her heart thundered hard against her ribs far too loud to hear anything.</p><p>Drums. Too loud in her bones.</p><p>Too loud.</p><p>Too. <em> LOUD </em>.</p><p>“KARIN!”</p><p>Karin's eyes popped open to see her father hovering over her, pale faced and wide eyed. That familiar feeling of vertigo had come back, her throat feeling dry and ragged.</p><p>“Karin? Karin, take a few breaths.... ok?” Isshin was still wearing his white overcoat from the clinic, stethoscope dangling and catching the dusky light coming in from the window. He started to reach down for her but stopped himself short, waiting.</p><p>How many seconds it took to gain her bearings Karin couldn't say but it took her much longer than she would have liked. </p><p>At some point she'd slipped off Ichigo's bed into the space between the frame and wall, ripping the curtains down as she'd tumbled. It looked that way at least. Isshin seemed to have moved those to the foot of the bed. The curtain rod stuck at an odd angle.</p><p>Her first attempt at words was cut short by the scratchy feeling in her throat followed by a strained “m' fine.”</p><p>She waited until her dad had pulled the bed back a bit before trying to crawl her way up. Her father's bear-hug was around her in moments. She was still shaking.</p><p>“I'm fine... really...just...” Karin managed with a little more calmness. It felt like a lie. “I got dragged in.” She shrugged herself out of his grip after a moment, nodding. “I'm fine. I'll <em> be </em> fine....in a moment.”</p><p>“You sure you're ok, sweet-pea?” Isshin had let go but still kept his hand at her back, grounding her back in the waking world. “You were screaming. Heard you all the way down in the clinic.”</p><p>Karin flinched, “y-yeah.... m' fine. You weren't with anyone, were you?”</p><p>Isshin chuckled, “nah. It's a slow day today. Makes it a good day. We can have some tea and talk about it? When you're ready.”</p><p>She kneaded her thumbs into her palms, picking at her thumbnails. “Sure, dad, but... there's really not much to talk about.” Karin shrugged, “got dragged in. She...she spooked me. Heh, starting to think my Zanpakutō is a kidō type or....or something like that. Memory... illusions... something like that.” </p><p>Knowing where the conversation might soon lead, Karin continued.</p><p>“I was in that cave we went to back in elementary. That...that Test of Courage activity thing, you know? Only....” Karin ran her hands back through her hair with a long sigh, as if things had suddenly clicked back into place, “only I was a dumb-ass this time and failed 'cause <em> she </em> popped out at me like a horror-movie reject.”</p><p>Her father chuckled softly, pulling her close again, just to give her a quick kiss on her temple, “you're not a <em> dumb-ass </em> , Karin. Don't you dare call yourself that. Zanpakutō can sometimes be....eh...let's say <em> wild animals </em> when you start getting to know them, and not just stubborn. Mine punched me in the face, kicked me in the nuggets, and then shut me out for a whole month because he wanted to! Heh. You just got to let them know who's boss, remember?” He smiled, “they're...unruly limbs with a mind of their own. Still <em> you </em> at their core.”</p><p>Karin nodded into his shoulder, the two quiet for a moment before Isshin inevitably asked why she was sleeping in Ichigo's room. She kept it simple, no mention of the egg or Grimmjow, not yet. All her dad needed to know right then was that it was “one of Urahara's crazy experiments.” He readily accepted that. A little more prodding and he was heading down stairs to get some tea ready while Karin took a little more time to stop shaking. The moment she could hear him hit the bottom she looked down at her nails, then a damaged part of the wall.</p><p>She pulled out her phone from the tote, snapped a picture, then furiously pressed send.</p><p>--<em> Dude </em></p><p>There was a long moment of impatient silence during which Karin briefly wondered if the time difference meant he was still asleep until she saw a little cringe-face emoji pop up next to Ichigo's current airplane avatar.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : wtf are you doing in my room?!!? </em></p><p>
  <em> --Urahara shit </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --DUDE </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --mind telling me why it looks like Freddy Kruger paid a visit?!?! </em>
</p><p>As the “typing” animation kept playing out and stopping Karin was staring hard at the gouge marks sunk deep into the drywall. She'd thought she'd done it when she'd fallen but it wasn't the curtain rod or her own fingernails.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : bad night </em></p><p>
  <em> --I can SEE you ok? </em>
</p><p>Again came the off and on animation of the typing for a while.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : yeah, just a nightmare before i left, going to patch it when i get back </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : don't tell dad </em></p><p>
  <em> --more than one patch here, try again </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : old patches </em></p><p>
  <em> --years old? Old? </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : yeah </em></p><p>
  <em> --dipshit, your bed was turned around then!! </em>
</p><p>Those she <em> did </em> know about already. This time there was nothing for a while, no typing, no emojis.</p><p>
  <em> --Ichi-nii </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : sry, out on porch now </em></p><p>Karin could already imagine him pacing in the early morning hours, trying to come up with something plausible so she'd back off.</p><p>
  <em> --look, just tell me where the stuff to patch it is and I'll take care of it.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --Dad's in the dark. Promise with strawberries on top. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --just tell ME will you? If I'm doing cover-up I need to know what for. </em>
</p><p>The “flower wand” string of text symbols after a long pause was a little confusing but it was followed by the location of some plaster and paint hidden in a drawer. Ok, so it happened often enough Ichigo had a <em> kit. </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : legit bad dream </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : bad enough for that but im really fine </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : now reverse uno, whats Hat n Clogs got you doing that had you in my room? </em></p><p>She didn't buy it but for now it would have to be enough.</p><p>
  <em> --seeing if your smell on me works like hollow repellent  </em>
</p><p>Karin sent a cringe-face of her own which was mirrored in kind by Ichigo.</p><p>
  <em> --yeah, gross right? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --anyways, napped in here then got yanked in by my Zan </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --took a loser tumble in that gap between the bed and wall when she spooked me  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --thought the marks were me at first </em>
</p><p>“<em> Shit! </em>” Karin hissed quietly, she'd not meant to send that last bit but had been on a roll. </p><p>
  <em> --How's vacation? You need to get an insta, I have to stalk Orihime to get anything </em>
</p><p>Karin felt bile rising in her stomach at the stuttering appearance of the “typing” animation this time.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : getting yanked in sucks </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : she spooked miss scream-queen? </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : must have really looked scary </em></p><p>
  <em> --jump scare </em>
</p><p>Karin was quick to reply</p><p>
  <em> --cheap tactic and lame </em>
</p><p>Perhaps too quick as the stuttering animation reappeared. Isshin called up from downstairs to say the tea was steeping.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : she wasn't some bleached out version of you was she? </em></p><p>“<em> Fuuuuuck” </em> Karin grimaced and threw her head down reflexively into the pillow. She was going to be the one to <em> seriously </em> mess up his vacation wasn't she?! How was she even going to answer that?!</p><p>That memory was already burned into her mind. Seeing some <em> version </em> of herself that seemed to be a walking alabaster statue wrapped up in dark crimson cloth and white ribbons. That <em> chain </em> coiled around body and arm. Face... the face half-covered by more of the black and white wrapping but she knew herself well enough to know what lay hidden. All she saw was that mouth, her mouth, grinning impossibly wide with those black teeth parting just enough for a narrow blue tongue to swipe up across foreign lips. That voice... still slightly garbled but Karin had <em> heard it </em> that time...and very dearly wished she hadn't.</p><p>
  <em> I smell....something delicious! </em>
</p><p>Karin threw Ichigo's pillow across the room, staring down at the screen. She was taking too long, thumbs all but paralyzed against the multitude of things that could be typed.</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : Hiyori's number is the last on the study-buddy list </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <b><em>:</em></b> <em> call to give her a heads up </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : time you met everyone anyways </em></p><p>Karin winced.</p><p>
  <em> --I'm really fine, she just spooked me. Illusions, I'm sure of it </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : i believe you abt as much as you believe me abt the wall </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : suck it up and call &lt;3 </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : supplementary boot-camp time! </em></p><p>
  <em> --you sound way too fine about this </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : HA! im sick to my stomach but you have everyone there for you </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : and ill be there in 3wks to commiserate personally </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : meanwhile just breathe and give as good as you get, be ruthless </em></p><p>She stared a bit, distantly hearing that the tea was ready.</p><p>
  <em> --don't make me say something mushy </em>
</p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : as if, now go off on whatever youre doing tonight and keep safe </em></p><p><b><em>PumpkinHead</em></b> <em> : im abt to go eat my weight in breakfast, food here is AMAZING! </em></p><p>Just like that.</p><p>Just like that and the hard tension in her shoulders was ebbing away.</p><p>“Goof-ball....”</p><p>
  <em> --yeah yeah, GET AN INSTA! I mean it! ;p </em>
</p><p>Karin looked over to the bulletin board above Ichigo's desk, searching across the pencil trays and tended photos interspersed with movie ticket stubs and a ridiculous collection of sports club patches from high school. The “study-buddy” list wasn't difficult to spot, pinned next to a high school graduation program. A list of phone numbers and emails organized by “subjects” only having initials to tell who was who. There was a trick to even getting the <em> right </em> number too, as all of them were jumbled up. Ichigo had showed her how.</p><p>Hiyori, yeah.</p><p>It wasn't that Karin wanted to avoid them, far from it. The Study-buddy list was there as a way to get in touch with a plethora of contacts Ichigo kept in the Human World, many of them eager to keep low profiles. Some he knew through the shop and others he'd stumbled across purely by accident. Hiyori and the Visored were one such group.</p><p>Karin found she couldn't escape the little walk through history she was taking.</p><p>Aizen. It always came back to him with this sort of thing.</p><p>That “treasonous act” Urahara and Tessai had fled from. No one was sure exactly when Aizen had started trying to turn Shinigami into Hollows but Hiyori and nine others, all former captains and lieutenants, got caught up in his schemes. Tessai's use of forbidden kidō spells, Urahara's unorthodox research on Hollows, and what Karin simply called “the rock” had barely managed to save them from turning into mindless abominations. The Eastern Branch's governing body, Central 46, couldn't find any proof that Aizen was even involved but plenty to suggest Urahara was the one performing hollowfication experiments...by Aizen's design.</p><p>He and Tessai were supposed to have been stripped of their power as Shinigami while Aizen's victims were to be put to death as Hollows. It might have all gone down that way had Lady Youroichi, Urahara's former superior and Commander of the Stealth Force at the time, not taken it upon herself to step in and rescue them by trust alone. She hadn't let him live it down yet either.</p><p>A century later, Aizen's defeat, and it was almost as if it had all been swept under the rug. No more “kill on sight” orders against the Visored. Several of them had even rejoined the ranks of Captain. The abrupt turn-around still left a bad taste, the other Visoreds not quite ready to forgive and forget so quickly. They remained in the Human World, preferring to keep to themselves as they had for so long.</p><p>There was still that unspoken request to hide what they really were, even if most all the higher-ups knew it already and even if Soul Society was attempting peace with the Menos. The Visored were much like the Kurosaki family in that sense: stuck between worlds. </p><p>You kept the weirdness under wraps.</p><p>Yeah, Karin wanted to call Hiyori and the Visored...but just as she'd told her father, she wasn't quite sure if the spirit she'd seen hadn't just been some fear-based illusion of her Zanpaktuō or if it really were some fragment of White beginning to surface. Ichigo just <em> thinking </em> it was a part of White was bad enough.</p><p>Karin ignored the number, heading downstairs before her father decided to check on her again.</p><p>No. This wasn't White. Even if it was, Ichigo had wound up with the lion's share of it rattling around in his soul and he'd been able to tame it; she could handle a smaller piece. Bothering Hiyori and the others so soon when it might be something she could very well handle on her own felt more like the actions of a child.</p><p>The evening wasn't off to the best start.</p><p>- - -</p><p>Karin ditched her body in Ichigo's room after supper. She left through the front door with her usual cheerful wave and tried not to think about the encounter with her Zanpaktuō spirit.</p><p>Evenings were usually kicked off with kidō lessons from Tessai, bakudō spells this week, something she excelled at enough that she was memorizing a few chants for thirtieth-level incantations already. Her hadō ones were lacking, still in the teens, but at least she could do some. </p><p>It was a point of pride. </p><p>Ichigo may have been most everyone's darling when it came to combat prowess and raw power but he had absolutely zero talent for kidō. He couldn't even pull off a first level one of any type and his track record with manual kidō items was less than stellar, many just blowing up in his face.</p><p>Now that the research project was underway, Karin had a feeling that tonight she'd be going straight to work capturing. They'd need a lot of Hollows, she imagined, both to feed the cocoon-egg and Grimmjow. Maybe Urahara had something planned to let the Arrancar hunt for himself instead, hands-off approach. Where though?</p><p>Not much of anything came around Karakura any more, mostly class-ones that had a taste for strays and small yōkai. It had to be extremely poor hunting for an Arrancar, especially an ex-Espada. That there had been class-twos lurking about recently seemed more a consequence of the egg's appearance drawing their attention before the warding had been set up. </p><p>The sensors were another problem. Karin doubted the gigai would be durable enough to allow the Arrancar to hunt while inside it. Urahara had also warned her that she'd have to keep convincing Grimmjow to stay “buttoned up” probably for that very reason. Oh, that was going to go over badly wasn't it? Karin had a hunch that was what those seals she'd seen on the gigai's chest were for: to <em> keep </em> him in. Perhaps Hollows didn't have need for things like soul candies or getting smacked with some kind of gokon tekkō to help escape from a physical body. Maybe they could just <em> do it </em>. </p><p>A frightening thought, true possession, one she knew White was-</p><p> “<em> UGH! </em>” Karin growled out to herself.</p><p>She stopped her trek across the rooftops of Karakura before she could lose concentration and end up plowing into power lines or something else.</p><p>“This is <em> not </em> how I wanna start tonight off!” She shouted at no one. ONE time getting yanked in by her very theatrical Zanpaktuō and... <em> and?! </em></p><p>Karin made another noise in her throat and yanked her katana, scabbard and all, out from the sash of her hakama. “<em> YOU </em> ,” she pointed a chiding finger at the hilt, “are <em> not </em> gonna <em> scare me </em> like this, ya got me?! You cut that shit out! I <em> don't need </em> you getting in my head like that any more, am I clear?!”</p><p>There was no answer. No little voice in her head. No fluttering of energy around the blade. </p><p>Nothing.</p><p>“Yeah, that's what I thought. We tried the nice way but if you're going to be a bitch about it then I'm gonna be one right back, you <em> get me </em> ?! THAT'S A FIGHT I CAN WIN!” She smiled forcefully, grip white-knuckled around the scabbard. Ruthless, just like Ichigo said, and she was genuinely pissed off enough to opt for that route. Next time she and her spirit met she was going to give her <em> hell </em>.</p><p>Geez, who was she kidding really? If her spirit really did end up just being something that worked with fears then she was giving it plenty of ammunition. </p><p>White terrified her even in stories, stories she knew Ichigo had wrangled back to PG ratings for her sake. Dad probably didn't even know the truth of it. Ichigo tended to skip over that particular subject <em> hard </em> with vagaries or a simple shrug. All she knew was that he'd been his usual idiot-self and picked a few fights he shouldn't have. White had ensured he'd walked away from those if only to secure its own survival. Ichigo had slipped once, mentioning that he had blacked out at least twice owing to that too. She knew there was more to it, there was <em> always </em> more to it when it came to that thing.</p><p>Karin put her sword back in place, swallowing in an attempt to wet her throat. </p><p>A sudden flicker of reiatsu drew her attention. The feel of it was distinctly Hollow, she knew that even without her handheld, but the class... a little one? No, it just felt <em> strange, </em>there was nothing really to compare it to save for that uneasy feeling that sometimes crept up when looking at an optical illusion. Karin had trained herself to not rely on the handheld since the sooner she could trust her own senses fully the better off she'd be but right now it felt like those senses were being tricked somehow. </p><p>She flicked the screen to draw up the area map. The direction she sensed the strange reiatsu in was coming up empty. </p><p>Was it just that weak of a Hollow it wasn't setting off the sensors? </p><p>Elsewhere on the map, too far for her own senses, she spotted the Snowdrop emblem of Squad Thirteen, the division overseeing Karakura Town. </p><p>Oh good, someone was nearby. </p><p>Karin watched the marker a moment, stationary, maybe puzzling out the oddity for themselves with a more practiced awareness or just taking a break.</p><p>Momentarily she thought about sending a message along but the patrolling Shinigami might have already dismissed it as nothing to worry about.</p><p>Karin barely had started to slip the handheld back into her pocket when the sensor alarm buzzed against her palm. </p><p>The Snowdrop marker had taken off in the direction of the earlier anomaly, albeit now there was a flickering triangle indicator moving quickly towards what Karin knew to be a block of parking garages. It wasn't a clear target lock, which meant the Hollow was either freshly turned or it was at most a class two trying to mask its reiatsu. Either way the two markers were on a collision course and <em> both </em> headed her direction. </p><p>So much for being on time to the shop. This close to the pending altercation it was best practice to intercept for an assist if the need arose, even as nothing more than an apprentice. Karin marked her status as “observing” on the handheld knowing it would show up on Urahara's monitors.</p><p>Alright, so the evening wasn't starting off <em> as </em> bad.</p><p>She found herself in a better mood once she'd started across the rooftops again, folded within the unseen currents of her reiatsu and the surrounding reimyaku. It was as close to flying as a person could get without wings, one of the many perks of being a spirit-being. A tiny fraction of her own energy latched into that of the environment and she could glide like it was her own personal zip-line so long as she remembered to keep kicking off things when she dropped too low. </p><p>Drawing closer Karin could start to feel the Hollow properly and it was indeed attempting to mask itself. Its reiatsu flickered and sparked, sputtered like a flowing faucet someone covered with their palm. It seemed pointless, a Hollow could easily detect both her and the other Shinigami at this range. </p><p>Karin waited crouched on the edge of a small office building, grateful that it was a slow Wednesday evening. If luck held out then the Shinigami could take on the Hollow and only risk the usual auto and property damage. Claims adjusters made a killing in Karakura. </p><p>She jumped a little when half the lights on the block went out, a few coloured flashes and muffled snaps as some kind of kidō went off in the parking garage.</p><p>Were they there already?</p><p>Car alarms. Twisted metal. Shattering glass.</p><p>Yeah, they were inside and there was definitely something weird going on. The reiatsu she sensed coming from the Hollow felt like it was still two streets away, the Shinigami too. It had to be some strange ability this Hollow had, something new. </p><p>Karin concentrated, forcing her senses on the parking garage and the sounds of struggle inside. </p><p>The wider field of her perception narrowed down onto the structure. It was still <em> off </em> but now she could more cleanly locate the other Shinigami through all the spiritual “static” being thrown up around the Hollow. </p><p>She felt ill, as if she'd just taken a bite of long-expired bubblegum and it sat at the back of her throat.</p><p>More flashes, this time from a blade.</p><p>Karin could barely see them as the two sped passed an opening on her side. The Shinigami's black, samurai-style kimono all but blended into the shadows and the Hollow wasn't much different. Some dark carapace covered it and the creature had far too many spindly legs. </p><p>
  <em> Boop-beep! </em>
</p><p>The sudden sound had Karin looking to the street, one of the car alarms going silent.</p><p>A late-night office worker had come out to check the commotion, clearly noticing her fob had shut her vehicle up. </p><p>“Don't go in, don't go- you went in....great...”</p><p>The trouble with the unaware, hazards, all of them. </p><p>Karin had hoped the tiny office woman in the pencil skirt would at least hear the <em> crashing </em> if nothing else. That was audible, physical destruction. Maybe she was just one of those stubbornly fearless self-defence junkies who thought some mace and a little judo was going to do something. Maybe against a mugger, <em> maybe </em>.</p><p>Vaulting off the building Karin glided down into the first floor area. <em> Stairs </em> . The lady had just taken the <em> stairs! </em> </p><p>She bounded towards the stairwell, cursing all the while that the office woman was on some sort of fitness kick. Three floors. Three <em> friggin' floors! </em><em>HOW?!</em></p><p>Elsewhere the Hollow and Shinigami were again in an altercation. Start and stop. The strangeness with the reiatsu kept spiking from moment to moment. Karin caught sight of the pair a second time and the strangeness only intensified. The Shinigami was chasing the Hollow and....wait... there hadn't been any of the usual screeching had there? No chattering taunts either. </p><p>Karin didn't have the time to dwell on it long, she saw the office lady with keys in hand beginning to froth at the state of her very mangled car. The vehicle was now wedged atop another two cars in the corner of the lot where it looked like something large had slid into them. </p><p>That something had doubled back.</p><p>No time. <em> NO TIME </em>.</p><p>She bolted for the woman as fast as she could, slamming into her.</p><p>Karin got her first good look at the Hollow up close. Flashbacks to some old horror-comedy movie about giant spiders attacking a mall. Dad had squealed. Yuzu had been clutching a throw cushion and had burst out laughing at Ichigo's dead-pan look back at the noise with a mouth full of popcorn. Karin had nearly put Isshin in a choke-hold to shut him up because <em> of course </em> he'd had to do that at the good part.</p><p>The Hollow was more like a scorpion, deep purples and blues marbled across segmented armour. Jointed legs clicked and clacked, tail whipping out behind it. The upper half of the insect-like creature bent at a strange angle reminiscent of once having been a torso, complete with a neck twice the length a human neck should be. The masked face shone white in the low light, lit by ember red eyes, a swath of finger-length teeth interlocked like a flytrap.</p><p>Karin arched back as the creature's pincer arm swung towards her and the Human in her arms. </p><p>They were missed by inches, both Karin and the woman tumbled through an empty parking space till they hit the concrete railing. </p><p>Karin had her sword out and ready for the second strike but the Hollow was already rounding the next corner. Had it only batted them out of the way?</p><p>“I've got her! Go!” she yelled at the look the passing Shinigami gave her. He continued the chase.</p><p>What the hell was going on?!</p><p>The woman was struggling and screaming at this point against what, to her, was some unseen entity with a vice grip. Karin nearly got an elbow to the eye as she pulled a lighter-like tool from her pocket. A flick of the wheel created a small puff of pink smoke in the woman's face and she fell limp, head falling forward much like the bobbing coo-coo bird on a spring now dangling from the device.</p><p>There wasn't anywhere <em> safe </em> in the parking garage to stash her. Karin couldn't exactly jump the three stories down with a living passenger in tow quite yet. That left the stairs again. </p><p>So many blind spots.</p><p>So many dark shadows.</p><p>Karin hauled the woman up over her shoulders in a fireman's carry, locking in with her off-hand so her sword arm was free. She had to move quick, get at least to the other side of the street and hidden before the Hollow spotted them. </p><p>Where was it now?</p><p>That nasty flavor of expired bubblegum was back in her mouth again.</p><p>Move.</p><p>Karin ran for the stairwell. Static pressing in like something sour.</p><p>She bounded down each landing, saw a car with alarm blaring careen past the second floor opening like it had been chucked. Sparks as metal scraped concrete.</p><p>Emergency lights flickered, throwing the stairwell into the stuttering space of the seen and unseen.</p><p>Shadows.</p><p>Karin could have sworn she saw <em> her </em> there, waiting in the corner with a smile of charcoal teeth.</p><p>Waiting, she was <em> waiting. </em> </p><p>Fresh night air filled Karin's lungs as she hopped the barricade; kept running out into the street. The woman across her shoulders felt heavier now.</p><p>The other Shinigami had the Hollow handled. All Karin had to do was get the Human somewhere safe to sleep off the effects of the kikanshinki, the night erased for her like an evening of heavy drinking without the hangover. Whatever she'd remember in its place would be infinitely better than what had really gone on.</p><p>Karin ducked into an alleyway.</p><p>Handled. The Hollow was handled.</p><p>
  <em> Running scared? Why don't we play a little? </em>
</p><p>The voice was right in her ear, slightly garbled, amused.</p><p>Karin turned, expecting to see <em> her </em> again.</p><p>The Hollow. The scorpion.</p><p>It was <em> right there </em> and had followed them from the garage, Karin hadn't even noticed.</p><p>
  <em> MOVE. </em>
</p><p>Somehow Karin managed to stop on a dime, vault backwards into the Hollow's oncoming path. She wasn't quite sure if she could call it an assault, it was acting too strangely. A second later a more logical part of her brain was screaming at her that doing so was foolish, the creature could kill her and the Human both.</p><p>That revolting bubblegum flavor. It completely vanished as they slid like an airhocky puck beneath the Hollow on a roiling bed of reishi.</p><p>Karin slashed out to her side as they slid. The Hollow moved too, the blade barely glancing off the thing's armoured legs. Some were already cut and bleeding from the other Shinigami trying to slice them away.</p><p>Other Shinigami. Where?</p><p>The Hollow.</p><p>Standing so close to it now it must have negated the effects of the trick it was using to confuse her senses. Karin could tell the other Shinigami was above them, mere meters away and coming down with a strike she and the Human would soon be clear of. It was....strange. Normally when she sensed others it was much like how one might expect radar or sonar to feel; a dense block of something appropriately shaped in a certain place. The feeling of their reiatsu sparking or burning from within.</p><p>Now though?</p><p>Now there was some odd mix of smell and taste added into that...the nasty bubblegum returning, ramped up to eleven till it was recognizable as some off-brand that couldn't get “banana” flavors correct. <em> That </em> was the Hollow. The Shinigami by contrast was something like fresh cut summer grass and strawberries, raffia baskets.</p><p>“Rise and wake, <em> Yoake! </em> ” Karin had slid completely under the Hollow's body by this point, catching sight of the shikai form the Shinigami's Zanpaktuō had taken. No longer did it look like an ordinary katana. The blade had split into five whip-like cords, each continuing to lengthen and glow from the hilt upwards, heated from within in anticipation of the command to follow. “ <em> Migotona sutoraiki!” </em></p><p>The Shinigami brought his strike downwards, the cords following one after the other in an increasing wake of light and heat.</p><p>Karin rolled up to her feet, watching as the cords snapped a burning crack in the carapace of the Hollow's back. He'd missed its neck. The wound smoldered but the creature didn't seem overly hurt by the strike. A hit from a <em> shikai </em> didn't seem to phase it?! This Hollow wasn't some middling class two.</p><p>“<em> Damnit </em>, girl, get the Human outta here!” The Shinigami shouted down, like that was something she wasn't already trying to do.</p><p>“<em> No, no, NO! </em> ” The Hollow finally screeched with a broken voice, turning its bulk about in the narrow alley. The interlocking teeth of its mask had parted ever so slightly, red eyes blown wide. “ <em> You're my offerings now! MINE! MY offerings to the TEETH! </em>”</p><p>Karin forced her feet to move again. None of that sounded good.</p><p>She heard the Hollow start to move and trusted that the Shinigami at her back could hold it off a while longer.</p><p>“<em> One-TWO Shinigami and the TEETH won't bite! </em>”</p><p>Another flash from the Shinigami's blade in shikai lit the area like dawn. </p><p><em> Hide and seek, little snack </em>.</p><p>Karin shook the voice out of her head, doing her best to ignore the creeped-out feeling of being watched. Why <em> now </em> of all the times did her spirit decide to get chatty?!</p><p>
  <em> You've got an anchor tying you down. </em>
</p><p>“Shut-up!”</p><p>The voice in her head only cackled.</p><p>
  <em> Not so sure of yourself now, are you? Your heart is beating like a drum! A hummingbird! </em>
</p><p>The voice cooed. Karin could swear a hand was on the back of her neck.</p><p>
  <em> Why not just abandon the dead weight before you get dead yourself, hm? </em>
</p><p>“If I die then <em> so do you </em> , don't forget that Spirit!” Karin grit her teeth, “so if you're not gonna be useful and give me your goddamn <em> name </em> then just shut up and let me work already!”</p><p><em> Oh, but I have. </em> She cooed again, <em> how many times might you have died already if not for my warnings? Two? Three? This will be four. Rid yourself of the anchor. Face the TEETH that Hollow fears so much, they should fear US instead! </em></p><p>Karin nearly screamed out her frustrations but...</p><p>“There's....a second Hollow....” </p><p>The “Teeth” the scorpion Hollow wanted to offer them to, all the odd behaviour. The Hollow they already faced was afraid of something much worse than itself and putting two Shinigami on the menu for the one <em> hunting </em> it had been the extent of its plans when hiding failed.</p><p>Karin slowed down, moving to put the office lady down in the doorway of a random business. </p><p>“I really hate you right now, I hope you know that, Spirit.”</p><p>
  <em> Hard choices, snack, hard choices. </em>
</p><p>Karin yanked out her handheld, thumbed to the call feature once she saw nothing on the map, and rang up Urahara's number. Predictably there were a few rings before he picked up.</p><p>“Karin? Wh-”</p><p>“I need you to jump on that fancy sensor-stuff you've got, Urahara. There's a second Hollow here that's got...I don't know, a C3 or better running scared. It's not showing up and I can't sense <em> JACK </em>, Urahara! The C3 has everything jumbled!”</p><p>“Karin-”</p><p>“I've got a Human with me and there's someone from Thirteen already engaged with the first Hollow.”</p><p>“Alright, Karin, breathe a moment.” Urahara's voice was calm but she could hear him bolting for something over the line. “The Human's gonna be fine, the Hollows are just going to be interested in those with greater spiritual pressure. You're going to be the other Shinigami's backup and take on the C3 so they can field the other one when it comes.”</p><p>“Urah-”</p><p>“It's what you're going to do, Karin. If you don't then the Human will die. You can handle a C3.” She could hear more fumbling in the background, a few muffled sounds where Urahara had his hand over the mic. Saying something to Tessai probably.</p><p>
  <em> Snack. Bother. You're acting like that helpless little girl you used to be only now you're afraid to step off the bench and play ball with the big kids. </em>
</p><p>“Shut-<em>up </em>!”</p><p>“Karin?”</p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p>“Karin.”</p><p>“Y-yes! Sorry! I was-” She couldn't do this, not with <em> that thing </em> in her head like it was.</p><p>“Engage the C3. Backup is on its way.” </p><p>Urahara's voice carried a finality to it that had her letting out a shaky “yes sir” before hanging up.</p><p>Shit, what was she doing?</p><p>Karin gripped the hilt of her Zanpaktuō tighter, “don't suppose you'd tell me your name <em> now? </em>”</p><p>The spirit cackled, <em> you're scared of your own shadows enough as it is! Earn my name, LITTLE GIRL! </em></p><p>“Bitch.”</p><p>
  <em> Wasn't that a fight you said you could win? </em>
</p><p>Karin went red in the face, forcing herself back towards the fight. Not <em> now</em>, she couldn't lose focus.</p><p>Plan, she needed a <em> plan </em>.</p><p>Reaching back, Karin felt for anything she still had in the work bag strapped across her chest. There was a familiar ball shape. Well...no better time to put <em> those </em> to the test.</p><p>Light from the other Shinigami's attacks had tapered off but the sounds of continued battle were a good sign, sort of. The scorpion Hollow continued to mutter out its frustrations at the Shinigami not standing still long enough to let himself be caught. Part of the buildings adjacent to the alley had been knocked inward.</p><p>Karin had sheathed her sword, palming a net cartridge. No launcher meant that she'd have only the range and accuracy of a pitch, a fact she knew she'd have to hug Jinta and his obsession with baseball for if she survived the night.</p><p>When, <em> when </em> she survived the night.</p><p>Don't think about it.</p><p>The Shinigami noticed her, perfect.</p><p>Karin wound up, sparking just enough of her energy into the cartridge to arm it.</p><p>An opening...an opening...</p><p>Karin pitched the best fastball she could manage right down the centre line of the alley, missing the Shinigami as he dodged, aiming for the weirdly surprised look on the Hollow ahead.</p><p>The blue kidō net furled out once it hit the creature's shoulder, bits of it sticking to nearby surfaces. </p><p>Hold...was it going to hold? She'd not had the chance to test it on anything more than a normal C2.</p><p>So far....</p><p>The Shinigami had taken a step back, grinning. “Well, <em> that's </em> a new trick!”</p><p>Karin noticed the cords of his shikai had all braided up together in a sword-like shape.</p><p>“You're the hunter-girl, right? Kurosaki's kid sister?” He nodded in greeting “I'm-”</p><p>“<em> Mine, you're MINE for the TEETH!” </em></p><p>“Oh pipe down!” He sighed, stepping forward towards the Hollow, “this one's a bit too dangerous to be kept, sorry about th-”</p><p>As the man had spoken Karin saw the light of the net flicker completely yellow in warning, the anchors beginning to tear loose. The Shinigami's words and her own shout had been drowned out by the sounds of concrete and asphalt being ripped apart.</p><p>He'd been back handed by the trapped claw so fast that the colours had all been a blur and Karin met the same fate with its tail not a moment later as the Hollow completely swung itself around.</p><p>Pain.</p><p>She wasn't quite sure what she'd hit after she'd gone flying but it had crunched. A car? Trash bins? </p><p>Things stopped rolling. Her lungs were slow to take in air. Everything swam.</p><p>Normal sensations for getting hit with one of Yoruichi's round-house kicks.</p><p>If Karin thought about it then that was probably how she managed getting back to her feet so quickly. She didn't want to think about it. That <em> voice </em> in her head was feeling smug.</p><p>A building across the street from her had a conspicuously Shinigami-sized hole in the corner of it.</p><p>He'd be back soon.</p><p>Where was she?</p><p>Newly freed the Hollow set its ember-gaze on the only moving thing in front of it.</p><p>Karin. Its offering to the Teeth that hunted it.</p><p>Backup. Backup was on its way.</p><p>Something clattered on the ground that made her look down.</p><p>Her sword. Why was her sword on the ground?</p><p>Her fingers wouldn't...wouldn't close. Blood was dripping down her forearm from a gash that cut across it and her midsection. It wasn't deep but it felt weirdly tingly.</p><p>The tail...scorpion tail...figured....</p><p>Still that voice was smug, unconcerned.</p><p>Karin crumbled back to the ground, still struggling to breathe, her limbs completely unresponsive.</p><p>Looming above somewhere, the scorpion Hollow let out a pleased hiss.</p><p>Why wasn't the voice concerned? She was about to die, they <em> both </em> were.</p><p>It just wasn't the best evening, was it?</p><p>At least the sky was clear, she could see a few of the stars, the moon.</p><p>Something heavy made the ground rumble. Something crunched, dripped, crunched again.</p><p>All the static was suddenly gone along with that horrid, banana bubblegum flavor. Karin could feel the Shinigami again, reiatsu sparking back. Feel the world again. She could feel something else too, something...</p><p>Something...</p><p>The air <em> glowed </em>. </p><p>Just at the edge of Karin's darkening vision, as it stopped glowing, she could vaguely make out a silhouette of a person looking down at her with eyes that caught the light in flashes of blue and white.</p><p>Such inhuman eyes.</p><p>Karin couldn't be sure but in the next moment she thought the other Shinigami was there too.</p><p>She could have sworn the figure with the mirror-blue eyes had lifted their bare arm to block the strike of a Zanpaktuō in shikai. It hadn't cut through.</p><p>There were just...sparks...</p><p>Karin sank down into warm darkness listening to the quiet hum of a lullaby she used to love.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks again for reading, be sure to leave a kudo if you enjoyed it! </p><p>A new Zanpakutō has appeared!<br/>name: Yoake (夜明け Daybreak)<br/>attack: migotona sutoraiki (brilliant/stunning [light] strike)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Limitaciones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, a big thanks to Rayvenstorm for beta-ing for me! Go leave some love over at https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayvenfire12</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Directions through the void of the Garganta were impossible without some sort of marker on the other side. Descorrer rifts provided an easy and stable way through to the other realms, like pulling back a set of curtains into a hallway, but the problem was that the Shinigami monitored for them closely these days.</p><p>So a Kümon it was. Damned uncomfortable, less hallway and more crawlspace since he wasn't the size of a Gillian. Grimmjow's form as he slipped through the narrow places was more akin to a dark sludge. </p><p>The Human World was easy enough to locate for all its brightness, Soul Society conjoined to it like a ball of yarn with its threads wrapped around everything. Those “threads” he slipped around, not wanting to touch them like some amateur might and get thrown off to who knew when or where.</p><p>It had...been a while since he'd returned to that strange little Human colony but he could recognize the old rift scars Aizen's forces had left years back from all the scouting. Some still had traces of the others left on them. Each was as good as a marker for him to follow yet Grimmjow sought out one in particular because he knew the one who'd made it had actually <em> aimed </em> somewhere discrete. </p><p>Pouring out from the tiny tear in the sky, Grimmjow pulled himself back into shape well before his feet hit lightly on the ground.</p><p><em> Don't be noticed, </em> Harribel had stressed to him. Of course that had come with a mountain of unspoken caveats since she had known him for a while now. It was more like she just wanted him to <em> try </em> not making trouble the moment he left Hueco Mundo. He could do that.</p><p>Tightening the grip on his reiatsu Grimmjow looked around absently at the small open space he found himself in. Things that looked like quartz brush covered in green bits of paper grew in thickets, metal poles with lights flickered back on. Concrete paths were set over a green and brown carpet and there was some weird “shape” of metal and stone placed prominently in the space. Some of the things he knew he should know the names for but it had been so long since he'd had to use that sort of knowledge. </p><p>Rusty, he was rusty and outdated when it came to the mundane things of the Human World.</p><p>He needed to fix that before it became embarrassing.</p><p>Grimmjow reached up to the band around his neck, un-tucking the corded earpiece connected to it. Once in place he tapped a little button twice and waited, stretched his arms and legs a little.</p><p>“Urrrrahara's Shop, one stop for all your sundries and contraband! How can we assist you?”</p><p>Grimmjow snorted, “that really how you answer your line? Tch, anyways, I'm here. Where's this shop of yours?”</p><p>“Ah! Master Grimmjow, you're here early! I wasn't expecting you quite so soon, I only just told my assistant about you this morning.”</p><p>“Assistant?” Grimmjow's brows narrowed. “Just how many people are in on this, Urahara?”</p><p>A nervous chuckle came from the other end and he suspected the Shinigami had made a point to tell him this when he wasn't within arm's reach.</p><p>“Tessai, myself, and Karin. I believe you'll enjoy her company quite well.”</p><p>“Not interested in a bedmate, now just tell me where I can find your shop,” He heard the Shinigami sputter on the other end. “I can only hold my reiatsu down this low for so long and I wanna get one more bite in before I'm stuck babysitting.” </p><p>He'd already extended his pesquisa out around him in search of something worth hunting down quick. The area's uniquely soft energy still unsettled him. Grimmjow felt the spark and fluttering of the resident souls; humans for the most part, a lot more were spiritually aware than the last time he'd searched like this. There were more demi-humans too and a handful of Quincy bold enough not to hide themselves, the usual patrolling Shinigami. All were off the menu which narrowed his choices down to a few dozen Hollow that felt like they were only a month or so old. </p><p>Grimmjow almost growled out his frustrations when he felt something recoil against his senses.</p><p>Oh?</p><p>“-didn't mean it like that!” Urahara was chuckling. “I don't suppose you'll know the address if I give it to you...where are you now?”</p><p>“Hm? Oh, that place where Ulquiorra and Yammy showed up back in the day to check out Kurosaki. The crater's gone now though.”</p><p>“The mountain park. Heh, yeah, city officials filled it in once they ruled out the whole 'gas line rupturing' thing. We're not too far from where you are now. I've got a pulse beacon I'll set up outside our barriers. It'll be at a low frequency, bursts of four, think you can pick that up?”</p><p>Grimmjow rolled his eyes, he searched again for the reiatsu that had recoiled from him and grinned when he felt it trying to wriggle away from his senses once more. This was going to be amusing. “Just set up your beacon and I'll be along soon, found a snack.”</p><p>“I'm not sure what you mean by sn-” Grimmjow tapped the earpiece to cut him off before the Shinigami could start chatting away about useless nothings. Urahara had no business knowing how acute his senses were these days. That sly Shinigami would likely end up figuring it out if he got much of a conversation going....probably would set that “beacon” extremely low too.</p><p>Well, now he had something to chase and that unlucky Hollow had the ability to both feel out his pesquisa and try to scatter it. A Menos in the making. It almost made Grimmjow want to find something else just to see what they'd eventually learn to do with it. Almost.</p><p>Masking his reiatsu meant slower travel, a little more time to appreciate the volume of activity going on below him. Not a lot of it interested him, not the “what they were doing” but in general the number of souls all packed into one little area. It was a little unreal seeing so many together and the air not thick with tension. Maybe there were just too many smells to pick up on it or maybe Humans simply didn't have enough energy within themselves to project their moods. Hell, sand lizards back in Hueco Mundo had more reiatsu if that were the case. </p><p>Grimmjow stopped occasionally to check on his quarry. They were doubling down on their scattering ability so much now that it felt like sour static right between his eyes. Honestly they'd have been better off if the second time he had looked their way they'd simply pretended not to have noticed him. It was pathetic, even more so when they finally bolted from their hiding space.</p><p>Amateur...he'd catch the Hollow on principle now or at least he <em> would have </em> if the crawler hadn't just bolted right towards some Shinigami. Both had noticed too.</p><p>“Dammit...” Grimmjow sighed. He landed softly on the end of some tall metal machine that was attached to what seemed to be a building decorated with steel beams. There went his chances of catching a snack of that calibre tonight.</p><p>The tip of the machine's arm had a bright, blinking red light on the end. He could kick it out but that seemed more than a little pointless. Grimmjow settled instead for flopping down on the metal bracing of the arm and pointing his crossed feet at it. That blinking warmth radiated nicely up through the thin soles of his boots and he'd soon crossed his arms behind his head as well. </p><p>If he couldn't catch that crawler he'd at least take a little pleasure in observing how annoying the Shinigami were about to be for it. The three were on even grounds if the Shinigami teamed up....or not, he could feel it become a one-on-one fight. Pity. Maybe he'd get the crawler after all. Maybe he'd spot someone else coming out of hiding to scavenge afterwards.</p><p>Grimmjow again sighed, gaze skyward. </p><p>Stars.</p><p>Probably one of the few things about the Human World that didn't annoy him to no end. Hueco Mundo didn't have stars and what stars he could see now were masked by all the lights the Humans used to chase the night away. Still...those few stars were pretty, glittering things. </p><p>Grimmjow was in the middle of pondering whether or not he could convincingly manage to scavenge what was left of at least one Shinigami and blame it on the crawler when the earpiece chimed.</p><p>“Better be good, Urahara, I'm busy.” </p><p>“The Hollow you're hunting,” Urahara spoke quickly, “are there two Shinigami engaged with it right now?”</p><p>Shit.</p><p>“Don't ask me for a rescue.”</p><p>“I'm going to ask you for an <em> assist </em> if they need it.”</p><p>Grimmjow rolled his eyes so hard he nearly regretted it.</p><p>“The <em> hell </em> they need my help for? They can take 'em. Not my fault they're in the mood to duel with a crawler.”</p><p>“So you <em> are </em> hunting it then?” Urahara sounded weirdly relieved.</p><p>“I was till they ran right into the Shinigami like an idiot.” Grimmjow rolled himself till he was sitting on the edge of the machine arm. He already knew Urahara was about to beg a favour, he just knew it. “Why are you calling <em> me </em> about this anyways? I thought the two of them would call their- eh...whatever. <em> Why are you making this my problem?” </em></p><p>Grimmjow started making his way towards the fight anyways, some part of him really just wanting to finish his hunt at this point even if it was at the expense of being <em> noticed </em>.</p><p>“Because one of them is Karin,” the Shinigami said matter-of-factly.</p><p>“Urahara, I don't give a shit about your assistant.”</p><p>“She's Ichigo's younger sister.”</p><p>Grimmjow narrowly missed his landing. Flashes of light were coming from a crag between buildings just ahead.</p><p>“<em> THE FUCK?!” </em> There were <em> more </em> Kurosaki?! His pesquisa snapped to both Shinigami. No way, there was just no way there were <em> more </em> like him. It wasn't possible!</p><p>Nothing, he truly couldn't sense anything distinctly Hollow about either but there was a flicker of Quincy in the smaller of the two. That was even more bizarre. </p><p>“You might want to get over there, Grimmjow, could be a show if nothing else.”</p><p>He was already there but Urahara didn't need to know that, he wasn't some trained dog.</p><p>“Yeah, fuck you, if she's a Kurosaki then there's no need for me to get involved at all. I've already seen Ichigo's show up close. No need to tease the hell outta me being on the sidelines.” Grimmjow could see the two Shinigami standing in front of the crawler, the Hollow caught up in some kind of glowing net. Yeah, things were handled. He'd missed all the visuals but the sense of the whole fight had been nothing special.</p><p>Distantly he heard the crawler shout something about an offering to “Teeth,” whatever misplaced bit of logic that came from, and then the taller Shinigami shouting back at them to shut-up. Yeah, boring as all hell.</p><p>“What's that little growl for?” </p><p>Shit, he was still on the line with Urahara.</p><p>“Tch, I'm-<em> OH!” </em> The crawler managed to rip themselves free and in the process score massive hits on both Shinigami. It was a nice move, there was some credit due there. The Shinigami were certainly feeling <em> that </em>tomorrow.</p><p>“Grimmjow? Grimmjow, what's happening?”</p><p>Karin, or at least the Shinigami Grimmjow thought was Karin, had slammed completely through the top of one of the machines that were scattered along the ribbons of black stone paths. He really needed to figure out what those things were called, they were everywhere. Karin had bounced and rolled afterwards, coming to a stop close to where Grimmjow leaned over the edge of the building he watched from.</p><p>Yeah, that was “Karin.” She got up way too quickly after that hit for any normal Shinigami. </p><p>“Piss off, I gotta show to watch.” Grimmjow cut off the call, yanking out the earpiece for good measure. No point any more to pretending that he wasn't there.</p><p>He got a good look at the crawler for the first time as they came forward, easily a six facción meal by volume but it wouldn't hit the spot at all, not for his own. A snack through and through but one he'd have thrown Di Roy at solo just to see how the little toothpick would have handled himself. </p><p>Di Roy... he'd probably have darted around teasing the crawler with feints like he was hot shit. Yldfordt would have been razzing the kid non-stop saying he could do better. Edrad and Nakeem... probably both taking bets but with Edrad more interested in how long it would take until Yldfordt got frustrated and jumped in just to show up Di Roy.</p><p>Yldfordt and Edrad were always hard on the kid. </p><p>Yeah...Grimmjow could see that happening. Then there would have been Shawlong hanging back with that tired sigh of his. A <em> look </em> at Grimmjow, silently pleading with him to not let their youngest two idiots get into yet another bone-breaking fight with one another, over some <em> crawler </em> especially...but Shawlong had bets of his own, he always did.</p><p>Grimmjow tugged absently at the comm band around his throat, feeling it too tight.</p><p>Karin's blade had slipped from her hand, her legs crumbling out from under her a moment later. The smell hadn't hit him till then, something like Szayel's “palace” or the medical ward back when Aizen had run Las Noches. The crawler stank of it worse than Karin did.</p><p>Dammit, not only was he not going to see if Karin could pull out her own mask as Ichigo did but Grimmjow was going to have to....<em> assist </em>. </p><p>The crawler was so focused on Karin that Grimmjow had to wonder if they even remembered why they'd been scattering their reiatsu in the first place. Yeah, that Hollow was getting eaten just on principle now.</p><p>They didn't even know what hit them.</p><p>Grimmjow had dropped from his perch, landing heavily on the Hollow's shoulders. </p><p>No sooner had his full weight settled when he felt the crawler's spine <em> pop </em> in the most delectable way under the pressure of his claws. One precise, hierro-backed jab to the back of the neck in order to separate such a critical body part from the rest of things. Its tail had reflexively twitched up, stopped short and crushed in his other hand before it could flail about too much.</p><p>No teeth. As much as he wanted to, Grimmjow knew he couldn't bother with the <em> enjoyable </em> part of eating when he could feel the other Shinigami starting to recover. Fine, the quick way, he'd just lick the blood off his hands later.</p><p>A pale, blue-white glow spread along the Hollow's corpse as it began to break down and was drawn up into the Arrancar's throat. It was a delicate technique to manage, targeting only what he wanted. Karin and the other Shinigami were relatively safe. It was more the surrounding Humans Grimmjow wanted to avoid.</p><p>Predictably the flavor was “<em> meh” </em> yet the hunt hadn't been about the taste anyways. </p><p>Devouring another Hollow...</p><p>Menos had <em> the edge </em> when it came to what it really meant to do such a thing. It wasn't merely the reishi or any myriad of other spiritual “nutrients” one could gain but truly the soul, the very <em> essence </em> of a being. Some Menos had even developed a talent for taking full memories into themselves, physically becoming what they'd eaten, or else were able to merge themselves with that meal. </p><p>He didn't have anything like that in his repertoire but Grimmjow <em> could </em> put some effort in when he needed to... like brushing up on his lexicon so he knew that “grass” and “carpet” were not at all the same things and..... <em> Karakura </em>. Alright, so that was this town. He could find it on a map and could navigate with addresses if Urahara decided to give him any. Mundane things normally taken for granted but things that he greedily made a part of himself for this extended stay in the Humans' World.</p><p>Karin twitched a little, drawing Grimmjow's attention back into the present moment. </p><p>The crawler had done a number on her, that was certain. Urahara was probably going to have a fit or something, his lot was always so <em> coddling. </em></p><p>He felt the other Shinigami's reiatsu spark up again and knew at this distance the trick with gonzui had not been missed. Ever since Yammy had taken a much larger inhale at that “mountain park” place he doubted the Shinigami wanted a repeat incident. </p><p>It came as no surprise, then, that he felt the Shinigami's spiritual form stretch. It pulled tight between where they'd landed in the building to some place that would be within striking range of him. Aizen had drilled into "his Espada" how to predict the end point of that “flash step” so hard that Grimmjow barely needed to pay attention for one this slow in comparison.</p><p>He lifted his arm as the Shinigami's Zanpaktuō had come down, the blade sparking against his hierro.</p><p>The look on the Shinigami's face as he realized that was priceless as usual. They <em> always </em> forgot about the hierro, at least the fodder did.</p><p>“You-”</p><p>“Yeah,” Grimmjow couldn't help his smirk as he imagined what gears might be locking and turning over to make such a dumbfounded expression possible. “Mind putting away that sword, <em> Shinigami?” </em> Grimmjow gestured with his free and still bloodied hand to his own blade at his hip. Hopefully it wouldn't take long for the dumb-struck Shinigami to notice.</p><p>Ever since the treaty Las Noches, and by extension Hueco Mundo, had adopted a simple crest for “official” uses. It was nothing more than a pair of nested circles arranged so that they either looked like a crescent moon or a hollow when viewed at an angle. Pantera had been peace tied to the sheath with a bit of black and white cordage, the seal pressed into wax at the knot.</p><p>Honestly such a thing did absolutely nothing but the Shinigami were big on useless gestures. Time to find out if they intended to honour it.</p><p>“Y-you....”</p><p>Grimmjow rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, I got that the first time, and <em> yeah </em>, I just stepped in and took care of your bug problem. I didn't think you Shinigami got all worked up when someone stole a kill, ain't happening again.”</p><p>That seemed to snap him out of it. Grimmjow didn't expect the Shinigami to sheathe his blade however he did lower it with a still wary look.</p><p>“Y-” Grimmjow swore if he said 'you' again he'd punch him, “I... I have to ask-”</p><p>“What an Arrancar is doing here?” Grimmjow finished for him tersely. “Tch, does it really matter? I mean, I can toss her over my shoulder like I'm kidnapping her and fight you one-handed for old time's sake. That might be fun for a bit.” </p><p>He leaned down enough to grab hold of Karin by the collar of her shihakushō uniform, black fabric bunching in his hand as he lifted her.</p><p>“H-hey wait a minute!” The Shinigami had again raised his weapon like it would do him any good. The poor guy thought he'd be a match for him, an amusing fact that Grimmjow had to remind himself was just because he was keeping his reiatsu masked. </p><p>“Calm your ass down, she's one of Urahara's, right?” Grimmjow pointed to the gash across Karin's front as she dangled in his grip. “She got stung. Urahara would be pissed if she died wouldn't he?” He held her that way just long enough for that thought to sink into the Shinigami's confused brain before Grimmjow hefted Karin up onto his shoulder.</p><p>There it was, that coddling and overly concerned look suddenly on the Shinigami's face. For once he'd been waiting for it, wanting it even.</p><p>“She needs help then, sh-”</p><p>“Can get that help at Urahara's place.” He thumbed over his shoulder, “I've got business there. You know where it is, I'm guessing.”</p><p>Pulling teeth would have been easier. <em> Demanding </em> would have been easier. Grimmjow could sense the little pulse beacon Urahara had running. He knew where he needed to go. However, leaving with Karin was a bad idea. The Shinigami would no doubt try to chase him, there would be a needless ruckus, and even if he left Karin the Shinigami would still be on his tail thinking he was up to no good. This way at least he could kill a lot of birds with this <em> dense as hell </em> Shinigami stone in front of him.</p><p>“Need an answer here, Mr. Sunshine.”</p><p>The Shinigami had suddenly looked around then, over his shoulder, focusing momentarily on a petite Human getting to their feet groggily in a doorway. “O-okay, this way.” He gestured for Grimmjow to follow him, avoiding the Human.</p><p>They bounded across town fairly quickly. Grimmjow noticed the Shinigami kept looking back to check on him, checking on Karin. Maybe he wasn't quite so dense after all.</p><p>- - -</p><p>Urahara's place wasn't at all what he'd expected. </p><p>It was.... tiny.</p><p>Buildings on either side dwarfed the little wooden thing and the dirt lot surrounding it only added to the “out-of-place-ness” it had. Even passing through Urahara's outer barriers did little to make sense of things.</p><p>It didn't feel like a den for Urahara's facción to gather and rest or recover at, there were far too many visiting scents and faint traces of reiatsu. It didn't feel like a common area either, people <em> lived </em> there full time leaving the place soaked in their energies plain as moonlight. Maybe it functioned as both in some way? Urahara was unquestioningly the master of that space, at least from what Grimmjow could tell from the way his presence stood above all others there.</p><p>He thought it was only Aizen and his bunch but Shinigami kept a <em> bizarre </em> sense of space.</p><p>Urahara was there outside when Grimmjow and the Shinigami arrived. He'd greeted Mr. Sunshine but Grimmjow didn't care to catch the man's actual name during the exchange, too busy looking at the man in the glasses. <em> That guy </em> was Urahara's Primera, no question. He was also looking at Grimmjow as if it were his fault Karin was slung over his shoulder.</p><p>Grimmjow couldn't help a little amused flash of teeth in response.</p><p>“Tessai, could you go get the med kit please, and Grimmjow would you please bring Miss Kurosaki inside?” Urahara had motioned them in, even Mr. Sunshine, with a jovial declaration of getting some tea prepared for all the guests.</p><p>That had Mr. Sunshine on edge and sputtering about Karin being in a life or death situation.</p><p>Heh, he'd really fallen for it hadn't he?</p><p>Shelves of small, colourful boxes lined the first room of Urahara's place. Each smelled thickly of sugar and other mystery things he wanted to check out later. A lot of it was weirdly enticing. Large glass jars of what looked like marbles and other small shapes wrapped in paper were set around the rest of the area. It vaguely reminded Grimmjow of a specimen room; specifically Szayel's “shelf of eyeballs” he'd kept for some truly bizarre reasons.</p><p>He hopped up on a raised platform at the back to follow Tessai further inside. Once past the threshold it felt more like he'd stepped into a proper common area, the presence of visitors curated. Barriers maybe? The same sugary overtones of the room out front were more subdued here. Some type of-</p><p>Candy. The stuff out front was called “candy.”</p><p>Grimmjow winced internally, he hadn't properly digested all of the crawler yet so some of the new information was taking its sweet time in coming to the surface. He just hoped enough of it was usable fairly soon.</p><p>The candy smells were fainter once he'd entered the living area and were replaced more or less by the grassy scents of the tatami underfoot. Off to one side a wall-sized row of bamboo blinds closed off the rest of the large room. Weirdly Grimmjow could see and hear Tessai on the other side but that was it. Not a stray flicker of reiatsu reached him. Definitely barriers. This place wasn't so much a den as it was a warren.</p><p>That was probably where Urahara meant for him to take Karin. </p><p>He paused, concentrating on what Mr. Sunshine was talking about with Urahara outside.</p><p>The usual “what's <em> he </em> doing here” types of questions that were somewhat answered by Urahara clearly knowing his name already. It helped that Grimmjow had legitimately come with a supply list Las Noches needed filled. Spare parts for communication equipment mostly, tools to work on said equipment, and by far the one luxury good most Arrancar would happily kill on request for: <em> tea </em> . Aizen had absolutely <em> cheated them </em> by only offering one kind and it had been a giant mind fuck to find out just how many other kinds there were.</p><p>When Mr. Sunshine seemed convinced enough to come inside with Urahara, Grimmjow stepped around the partition to place Karin down amid a little medic area Tessai had hastily set up with a futon. Getting a second look at the gash the crawler had managed it already looked a little better. Even if he had thought Urahara had been lying before, the faint smell of Ichigo on her when he'd gotten up close was unmistakable. Yeah, she was a Kurosaki alright, the hardiness only confirmed it.</p><p>She'd probably be on her feet within the hour even without any healing kidō. He'd bet on it.</p><p>“She'll be fine, just let her sleep it off,” he gestured vaguely to the wound as he turned to let Tessai do his thing. “Smells like that shit they stick you with when you don't sit still on the slab.”</p><p>“Wha-?”</p><p>Grimmjow didn't let him finish, returning to the first part of the room to lean against the far wall.</p><p>Mr. Sunshine didn't look like he was staying too long, Urahara had only brought in three cups on a tray and Mr. Sunshine stayed off the platform. Good. Grimmjow caught the Shinigami staring at his boots in a mildly offended manner before the guy looked up at him properly.</p><p>“I thought you said she was <em> dying </em>?”</p><p>“Tch, I asked if <em> Urahara </em> would be pissed if she died,” it wasn't his fault the Shinigami hadn't caught the difference, didn't matter if he'd been counting on it either. “Besides, if I'd just asked for directions would you have even given them to me?”</p><p>When Mr. Sunshine didn't immediately answer Grimmjow smirked.</p><p>The Shinigami eventually forced a thin smile, politely bowing towards Urahara. “I'll be in the neighbourhood if you need me, Mr. Urahara. Please let me know how Miss Kurosaki recovers, she did well tonight. I'll be looking forward to when she's a part of active field duties.” His attention turned back to Grimmjow, “and...<em> Grimmjow </em> was it?” How the Shinigami said his name carried a little bite. “I appreciated the assist. It was... <em> good </em>...to have worked with you. I wish you a pleasant evening.”</p><p>That forced smile remained, a curt nod before he'd turned his back on him to leave.</p><p>It took everything Grimmjow had not to feel <em> insulted </em> by that and go for the weakling's offered neck.</p><p>This was Urahara's place. There were expectations to follow.</p><p>“That went well!” Urahara chuckled once Mr. Sunshine had completely left the grounds.</p><p>“The <em> fuck </em> it did!” Grimmjow allowed himself to lean more heavily on the wall, gawking some at Urahara's loose posture. “Asshole knows my <em> name </em> now...and that's <em> your </em> fault too, Urahara, I didn't say jack shit earlier! Mr. Sunshine's gonna have that whole thing in that damn paperwork you guys do an-”</p><p>“Mr. <em> Himawari </em>,” his host said with a gleeful little snap of his fan, the pale spread of it hiding that damned grin of his. Maybe a giggle too.</p><p>“I don't give a shit about his name!” He ran his hand roughly through his hair, another glance over towards where Tessai was with Karin. Grimmjow didn't like being unable to sense them but it did help with his other worries. “Just....tell me it's fine. I need to check in with Tier and that's the first thing she's going to ask me.” He pointed back towards the door where Mr. Sunshine had disappeared, “and <em> that shit </em> will be the second.”</p><p>“It is, though I would think you'd like to clean up a little first. A cup of tea? I'm not... sure what really pairs well with that.” </p><p>Grimmjow blinked, looking down at his hands still covered in the crawler's blood. Given the preview he'd had a taste of earlier it wasn't a wonder he'd forgotten about the mess and most of it had even begun to dissipate already in the Human World's thin environment. Karin's had soaked into the shoulder of his jacket where he'd carried her, dark red stark against white.</p><p>He plopped himself down beside the ridiculously low table in the centre of the room giving his palm an experimental lick. Anything appetizing had already soured.</p><p>“Nothin' really...but mint if you've got it.”</p><p>“I do have mint,” Urahara carried on in his sing-song way as he shuffled about getting things together. He'd even returned with a pair of steaming handcloths that Grimmjow put to quick use. </p><p>“How is everything back home? I never got to ask Lorde Harribel last we spoke.”</p><p>Grimmjow glanced up at Urahara, trying to remember what all he probably knew already.</p><p>“The usual,” he answered, “things shook up when she told everyone about what happened with Fins' territory, the egg, all that. Calmed down now though.”</p><p>“I only got piecemeal, Grimmjow!” Urahara chuckled, pouring tea for him from a small metal teapot. He dispensed a different brew from a large plastic decanter for the other two cups. “You're depriving me of the juicy details! How is it that Las Noches even came across this egg in the first place, how does Lorde Harribel know it's another- well I suppose instincts play a crucial part, but still.” He clasped his hands together pleadingly, “it helps paint a better picture on what to expect while we're all expecting!”</p><p>“You're not going to shut-up till I tell you, are you?” Grimmjow glared. </p><p>The pleading posture remained.</p><p>“Look, half of it was just <em> luck </em>, I really don't know much else. This is shit you should be asking Tier but I doubt she could tell you much either.”</p><p>Grimmjow made the mistake of taking a sip of his tea. Dammit, Urahara had brought him the good kind of mint tea too. Bribed, he was getting <em> bribed </em>.</p><p>“Tch.”</p><p>Urahara beamed, settling back.</p><p>“It was <em> luck </em>, Urahara, that's all.” He shrugged, “just out looking for other Arrancar, other Hollows who wanted to come to Las Noches. This one Pack Leader named Fins had been a pain in my ass with his poachers but I couldn't touch him...not then anyways... 'cause he had an agreement with Tier. Then he up and gives word his own had found something interesting.” </p><p>Really it had been the ruins. Harribel had been searching for more of them after Nel told her about Negal. One visit there and she'd seen something she wasn't talking to any of them about yet. Grimmjow suspected it had something to do with why the Quincy had glassed seemingly random areas around Hueco Mundo and tried their damnedest to do the same to Las Noches. Aizen's citadel had ironically ended up protecting the remnants of the old Las Noches below it. </p><p>Grimmjow had been down there a few times exploring, mostly it was just long stone corridors but there were a few chambers too. Some of which had designs carved into the walls he remembered seeing on the old God-King's “finery” as well. Hell, even Baraggan's old bell was stashed down there, Aizen hadn't melted it down after all.</p><p>“We get there and Fins does his usual bullshit posturing. Tier pretends she's accepting of it but <em> holy shit </em> if you could have seen the look she was giving him up close!” Grimmjow chuckled, “so we get invited down into the caverns below where they'd all settled in. Most had cleared out already since hey, you've got a Vasto Lorde and some of her Espada coming through....at least that was what it was supposed to look like. Fins apparently got the bright idea to lay an ambush since...”</p><p>Grimmjow's chuckle had bled into his words, forcing him to stop a moment. Urahara was leaning across the table with rapt attention, just as amused.</p><p>“Ohhhh, you're not going to believe this but...eh... you remember that big...<em> thing </em> Aizen cobbled together? What did he call it...Hooleer? Yeah, you'd know that thing if you saw it, just...swallowed up Gillians and carried them around in its gullet. THAT thing was the final version but, Urahara, BUT! Aizen had tried making one of those ugly fuckers half-sized before... and <em> guess what Fins made his pet?! </em>”</p><p>“The cyclops demon frog from hell? Oh, I remember...” </p><p>“<em> YES </em> . That thing! This was... maybe a fifth version of it, I don't know, didn't look like it was made of slugs quite yet but still ugly as <em> hell </em> . Heh, so Fins has this thing kind of trapped down there somehow, maybe starved, maybe thinks it'll swallow us when we round the corner but all of a sudden I hear Nel just <em> squeal </em> and run forward. <em> She knows the damn thing! </em> And it's just as giddy!”</p><p>Grimmjow tossed up his hands, not bothering to hide his utter disbelief. </p><p>“Fins was just as confused....and I mean, <em> it's Nel </em> too so.... I don't know why any of us were really surprised. Heh... anyways Fins goes all in, calls out his guys, all hell's breaking loose and the not-Hooleer is snappin' at everything, crashing around-”</p><p>Harribel had been more than a little pissed at that and had downed it as quick as she could but not before it had destroyed nearly all of the ruins they'd come to investigate. Fins hadn't been lying about that, he'd even produced some artifacts that had led them down there in the first place.</p><p>“-Tier kills it and then Nel's after Fins. <em> I can't catch her </em> because I'm busy with a couple of boulders and some asshole with a <em> voice </em> makin' my ears bleed. Can't hear shit after that but Tier's suddenly diving down into some... some <em> chasm </em> that the not-Hooleer knocked open.”</p><p>Grimmjow took a moment to drink more of his tea before it got cold. Tessai had joined them as well, finally done tending to Karin.</p><p>“Managed to get Nel's attention before she'd finished off Fins. We're about to head down when Tier is back up with the egg and the rest of Fins' facciónes are showing up....he had a lot... like I said, pain in my ass with all his poaching. Nothing we couldn't <em> handle </em> but...”</p><p>“But doing so would have made too many enemies elsewhere?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Grimmjow nodded, “better Fins be hauled up as a breaker of trust against the Lorde that spared him than kill him and the ones he brought along.”</p><p>“I'm... not quite sure I follow?”</p><p>“Tch, think of it this way: each facción really only trusts their own Guía and Primera...lot of different reasons for that. If a Pack Leader like Fins pisses off either of those heads then they lose the attached facción. He had to have convinced the heads of the facciónes looking to him that betraying and ambushing a neighbouring Vasto Lorde they were on good terms with and two of her Espada was some kind of brilliant plan..... which it kindda was if there had been any chance of success.”</p><p>He lifted his cup in a mock cheers, “so we let the slimy bastard live and thrashed everyone who came at us till they got the message. Heh, think we only killed...three? Four? Tch. Anyways, I'm not surprised if they turned on Fins the moment we left...probably will break apart that pack too. Damn, I hope so.”</p><p>Urahara nodded, “so if you'd killed this Fins or too many of his group then whoever was left would be out for revenge.”</p><p>“More or less.”</p><p>“I bet this Fins guy had quite the look on his face when his pet turned out to adore Nel.”</p><p>Grimmjow chuckled, taking another sip of his tea, “the <em> best </em>. One of those moments, you know?”</p><p>“Oh, I can! Heh, and what about the chasm? Did you feel a presence before Lorde Harribel rushed down or did she head there like she knew what she was doing?”</p><p>He shrugged at that, “was too busy fighting, you'd have to ask her about it.”</p><p>“Fair enough, it just seems very unlike Nel to rush off like that unless she has a goal in mind, that's all.” Urahara had put his fan down on the table in favour of his own cup. “But later, after the whole thing was resolved...how did <em> you </em> handle that news?”</p><p>“About the egg? How do you <em> think? </em> ” Grimmjow sighed heavily, “all this time I thought.... <em> tch </em>, not like it matters any more what I thought. If this goes right then we've got a second Vasto Lorde and I'm hoping like hell Soul Society doesn't start seeing that as a threat... not till the brat gets a good century of experience under their skin at least.”</p><p>“I can't guarantee they won't, Grimmjow, but...they certainly will if they learn this new one was hatched.”</p><p>“Well fuck 'em. They're not ever going to learn that, I'll die before they do.”</p><p>Urahara seemed to consider that carefully, even glancing over to Tessai. Grimmjow wasn't privy to the silent conversation occurring between the two but he did know it was happening. </p><p>He could guess what it entailed too.</p><p>A born Hollow. Not just some spirit that became one, but a Hollow that just <em> was </em> one from the beginning. It threw off every pristine “law of nature” the Shinigami had to assume in order to hold authority as they did. It meant there were souls out there that the Shinigami had no control of at all. </p><p>Hell, it threw off the Hollows too. </p><p>Not once had Grimmjow heard of a Hollow that had become one without first ripping through to the other side of agony and terror, it was almost a right of passage. Every stage of their growth was like that. </p><p>But...</p><p>A <em> born </em> Hollow? </p><p>It meant...</p><p>Dammit, what did it even mean? Something profound, certainly, but damn if he could wrap his head around whatever that was yet. How did that <em> happen?! </em> What he <em> did </em> know was that if Soul Society knew about it then they'd sure as hell <em> try </em> to get control somehow... “cleanse” the brat if nothing else; say it wasn't part of the deal.</p><p>Hueco Mundo couldn't afford to lose another Vasto Lorde, especially if they were exclusively <em> born </em> like this, nor could Las Noches afford the type of fight against the Shinigami that would result.</p><p>“So... you stashed it here or is it somewhere else? If I wait too long to check in Tier's gonna be pissed.” He took one last gulp of his tea, standing. Urahara was stalling and already Grimmjow's instincts were screaming at him that he'd been tricked somehow, he just couldn't figure out when or how. </p><p>“Oh, it's here,” he nodded over to his second in command, “Tessai and I have been ensuring our little guest's comfort as best we can.” Urahara had picked up his fan again and gestured downwards with it, “we've a training bunker below us, you see? It's made for a serviceable space so far but I've no doubt things can be improved with a trained eye.”</p><p>The smile was friendly enough.</p><p>“Once you look things over and are able to check in with Lorde Harribel I can also get you set up with your gigai. There's still a few kinks to work out with it but overall it's some of my best work!”</p><p>Grimmjow only managed a grunt at that, not looking forward to wearing one of those “meat suits” even if it was supposed to help him stay easier in the Human World. He looked back at where Karin was still laying unconscious on the other side of the reiatsu-blocking partition.</p><p>“So, where's the other Kurosaki? Didn't sense him when I came in. He finally learn to tuck himself away properly?”</p><p>A quiet chuckle from Tessai already told him 'no, the little orange punk hadn't learned yet.'</p><p>All that power and he couldn't do something so <em> basic </em>, it was pathetic.</p><p>“Somewhere in the Yucatan on vacation. One of his friends has family out that wa- Grimmjow?”</p><p>Grimmjow settled for a narrowed glare at Urahara.</p><p>“Ah, right then. You cut to the chase quite quick don't you?” The Shinigami chuckled from behind his fan. When it didn't bring the hoped for response Urahara had sighed and gestured for Grimmjow to follow him, pointedly leaving that cane of his behind.</p><p><em> Finally </em>.</p><p>Tessai stayed behind with Karin, Urahara stepping towards the room with the candy shelves. To the left of the sliding door the Shinigami knelt to move one of the tatami mats out of the way. The hatch beneath it was thick, taking a bit of effort to open but beneath that was a dark shaft and a ladder.</p><p>Grimmjow wasn't sure if it was better or worse that Urahara went ahead and jumped down first but he followed the Shinigami soon after.</p><p>Another barrier....several, in fact.</p><p>He dropped through them all for a few meters before the shaft opened up into an absolutely massive cavern where the change in atmosphere was noticeable. Arresting his fall not far from where the ceiling began, Grimmjow hovered in mid air a moment to get his bearings. </p><p>It wasn't Hueco Mundo but it was easy enough to pretend it was. Breathing was easier, there wasn't that subtle itch up his spine any more. He'd have been concerned if Urahara hadn't mentioned the place was normally a training bunker. There was so much residual reiatsu from skirmishes that it left a weird sort of aftertaste in the air, put him on edge a little. That was odd when he thought about it. A good fight was something he <em> craved </em> and better still was the sheer joy and drive for improvement all tangled up in the energies.</p><p>There wasn't death here, no agony, no trace of real danger. So why...</p><p>Grimmjow knew he owed Sung-sun her winnings as the realization hit embarrassingly hard.</p><p>Fighting going on where the egg was kept was a “bad thing” according to this particular set of instincts and nothing was going to convince them otherwise. Babysitting...no, this was <em> nesting </em> pure and simple.</p><p>“You going to hang around up there a while?” the Shinigami called from the ground, “thought you wanted to see the egg already?”</p><p>Grimmjow bit back the self-depreciating noise he wanted to make as he dropped quickly to ground-level. Sung-sun probably had him pegged the moment she'd met he and his facción, certainly when she'd visited Negal and seen how he kept it. For all his pride at being able to secure and manage leagues of untamed hunting ground, even by himself, there was... something about a place to come back to at the end of the night. A place, more than just a temporary den or solitary burrow, to keep everything that was his <em> safe </em>. Some place cozy and warm, kind of like...</p><p>“Like what you see?” Urahara had his fan resting closed on his shoulder, very much interested in if his handiwork was about to pass muster.</p><p>“It's tolerable.” </p><p>Unfortunately, nesting Hollows were sitting ducks, too many weaknesses.</p><p>He hated that...and he was <em> not </em> weak.</p><p>“Just tolerable, eh? Coming from you that's like praise.”</p><p>“Tch, you Shinigami sure love making fake skies....moon's a bit wonky...”</p><p>“Meh, not much of an artist.” Urahara shrugged contentedly, “first time I made a bunker like this there were just dirt walls. It got boring... felt cramped.”</p><p>The two stepped over boundary markers into a tent where things felt much more like the deeper places back home.</p><p>“It's stable, but that's about all I can really determine from my end.” </p><p>Grimmjow knelt along with the Shinigami as the egg was uncovered. He held his breath in preparation for the kick it had.</p><p>“Smells?”</p><p>“Yeah. Throws you off your appetite... suppose that's a good thing,” he shrugged as he let his pesquisa crawl over it.</p><p>It was....fine. </p><p>Grimmjow glanced over to where Urahara was watching him, not for the first time thinking the Shinigami had simply made up the entire thing about the egg's condition failing. The trouble was that even if he couldn't know for certain the truth of that the egg did feel frail. Fine but frail. Harribel was right in having it remain there, the little thing wouldn't survive a second trip through the Garganta. Maybe it was a miracle it had survived the first too.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“The egg's fine,” he sat back on his hands as Urahara covered it again with the mat. “Not getting fed like it should but....not hurting it either.”</p><p>“Well that's troubling. If it's the quality of...eh.. the formula then maybe we could try adding in extra reishi? I've access to a machine that distills it.”</p><p>“That liquid shit the Quincy use? <em> Hard pass </em>.” Grimmjow waved him off, “stuff will give you heartburn like you wouldn't believe. Way too pure.”</p><p>“But it <em> is </em> usable isn't it?”</p><p>“For the egg? Hell no. Tch, more like the kind of shit you'd knock back if you were in desperate need of a boost in power but didn't need the souls.” He shrugged, “then it's a toss up between being curled up in agony for a bit or pukin' your guts up. We learned pretty quick not to actually <em> eat </em> the Jagdarmee when we caught them...swear the bastards drank kegs of it knowing that.”</p><p>“Well that explains some things. If it helps I can work on adjusting the purity, get something brewing that you can have without those ill effects?”</p><p>Grimmjow found himself thinking that over, fingers thrumming on the ground beside him.</p><p>“I'll take that as a soft <em> sure </em>,” Urahara chuckled.</p><p>“Yeah... not thrilled but it couldn't hurt. I gorged myself before the trip so I'll be good for a few days, down here especially. Extra reishi will just help extend the time a little more.”</p><p>“And the gigai.”</p><p>“<em> And the gigai </em> ,” Grimmjow repeated with a roll of his eyes. “Still going to end up needing a good hunt in the mean time. Shit, Urahara....the hunting around here is <em> piss poor! </em> What gives? I remember there being some decent crawlers calling this place theirs not long ago!” </p><p>Almost as soon as he'd said it he wondered if Kurosaki had culled the place before he left. Made it safer for that sister of his upstairs while he wasn't around. Tch, yeah, if anyone was a nester it was <em> him.  </em></p><p>It seemed a waste really, but Kurosaki probably knew how quickly more would wander in. The guy had to hunt <em> something </em> to keep up that strength of his. Grimmjow was a bit determined now to figure out what that was.</p><p>He didn't imagine the Shinigami could see the look he was giving him but the man shrugged anyways.</p><p>“A few reasons. Karakura was transported to Soul Society briefly-”</p><p>“Heh...”</p><p>“-which created a number of more spiritually aware Humans now peeking behind the curtain.”</p><p>“Shit, you're <em> serious </em>. When the hell did THAT happen?!”</p><p>Urahara lazily rubbed the back of his neck, thinking something over.</p><p>“Aizen's final assault.” Grimmjow still wasn't sure if the Shinigami could see in the pitch black but he felt like Urahara was looking right at him with that one.</p><p>“Pft, now I know you're messing with me. What the hell would <em> Aizen </em> be doing in a place like <em> this </em>?”</p><p>“You didn't know?”</p><p>Grimmjow's expression dead-panned and he thumbed up to himself, “number-one problem child. No one told me jack shit if they didn't have to. Far as I knew we were supposed to attack that Seireitei place in Soul Society, <em> this </em> place was just supposed to be a diversionary target for.... eh... something....the Numeros? Sounds about right... hell, I don't remember! I tuned out most of those meetings.”</p><p>He stood, dusting off the back of his pants, “you know what? Changed my mind. I don't really give a shit why the hunting's poor in Karakura. It just better be decent <em> somewhere, </em> or we're both going to have problems when I start getting cravings.” </p><p>“There's a place near here, but that reminds me-”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“You're going to have to.”</p><p>“Nope.”</p><p>“You haven't even heard what it is yet,” Urahara chuckled as they left the tent.</p><p>“I've heard the '<em> that reminds me' </em> thing enough from you to know I'm not going to like it, so <em> no </em>.”</p><p>“A wager then.”</p><p>Grimmjow glared. Urahara was determined and that rarely went well. The Shinigami took his lack of response as tentative permission, which it was, he just wished Urahara would put that fan of his away. He tapped it absently on his shoulder in a series of faint little clicks. Body language Grimmjow couldn't read but already that Shinigami's smirk said: <em> I don't make wagers I know I'll lose. </em></p><p>Refusal was still on the table, if he heard him out.</p><p>“Once you get in touch with Lorde Harribel we can deal with setting up the gigai. There's a lot to it, physical bodies have a maintenance requirement when you're in them for an extended period of time. Don't worry about that though, there's an included kit and we can walk you through things like toothbrushes later.” The fan stopped tapping, “your gigai is special. First one made for an Arrancar, especially one of your calibre, so there's going to be bugs...<em> errors </em> that we'll need to deal with.”</p><p>Coddling. That <em> look </em> on Urahara's face that had Grimmjow wondering if his own expression was giving him away already.</p><p>“First major hurdle is figuring out if it's even going to be able to contain you. Now... we can do that the easy way and take some readings which will also double as a baseline for how this realm is about to start effecting you.... or skip over all that and to the part where you step into an untested gigai blind.” Urahara nodded sagely, “thing is, if you take the second option...I still have to take those readings anyways to re-calibrate the gigai.”</p><p>Grimmjow felt his teeth grinding a little, “so what's the wager part of that? Feels like a choice of which scalpel blade's about to get used first.”</p><p>“Hoho, nothing so dramatic as that! Non-invasive and painle-”</p><p>“You think I'm concerned about <em> pain </em>?” He bristled.</p><p>“The <em> wager </em>,” Urahara wisely moved on, “is that you won't last three days cooped up down here when you take the third option: stubbornly refusing the gigai at all.”</p><p>“OR, fourth option: I don't stay down here and just go where I want.” </p><p>“It wouldn't be pleasant, but sure, that's an option.” Urahara shrugged, “you gave the impression earlier this evening that you couldn't hold down your reiatsu for more than a few hours. Maybe I should shorten my bet then?”</p><p><em> Fuck </em>.</p><p>“Three days before I bail... you're actually about to make a wager on <em> that?” </em></p><p>“Three days till you can't stand staying cooped up and try to leave the grounds without telling anyone <em> and </em> without the gigai. Karakura is quite the interesting place and there's a saying here in the Human World about curiosity and cats.”</p><p>What that saying was he didn't want to find out, it already sounded bad. Grimmjow had his hands on his hips, narrowly regarding Urahara. He could still refuse.</p><p>“Tch, it's a stupid wager. What the hell's worth my whiles that I'd take you up on it?”</p><p>Urahara tapped that damned fan of his again, on his chin this time as he made a show of thinking things over. “Not quite sure. To me this is arguing with you over your own comfort and the safety of the egg.”</p><p>There was a certain amount of mental whiplash that happened which had Grimmjow blinking owlishly at the Shinigami, unable to stop himself from glancing over at the tent a moment later. Bastard had to sneak in the egg. What about his <em> comfort </em>anyways was...wait, what even was this about?</p><p>Grimmjow again had to stop himself from grinding his teeth too hard, stop from giving himself away. This was a trick. Somehow it was a trick and he just couldn't pay attention enough to find out where the trick was in the bastard's words. Something had been skipped over.</p><p>Refuse. He could still refuse to play by Urahara's rules, this wasn't like with Aizen. He didn't have to take the bet.</p><p>He couldn't leave the egg. Couldn't with so much at stake....whatever that was; that “profound” thing he couldn't quite put words to yet. </p><p>“<em> Fuck you </em> , Urahara.” Grimmjow growled, “I see <em> through you </em> . You don't think I can even do this do you? Don't think I have the <em> patience </em> to stay fuckin' cooped up in this cage- I have the patience of a <em> goddamn SAINT </em>, ya weaselly bastard!”</p><p>There it was! That <em> annoying </em> tapping of his fan had lost rhythm right before he'd stopped entirely.</p><p>“Tch, don't think I can last three fuckin' days....hell, you don't even think I'll tolerate your fuckin' <em> meat suit </em> !” Two steps had taken him right up to the frozen Shinigami and Grimmjow just <em> smiled </em> . “I'm not playing your little game, Urahara. Not taking that <em> wager </em> when you've got the stink of a guy who's <em> rigged </em> the outcome before he's even begun.”</p><p>He revelled in the way the Shinigami shrank back, just a little, unable to hide the fact that he'd been caught in his little game.</p><p>“So....I'm gonna make a little wager of my own. One that's <em> plain </em> and ain't trying to trip you up like you Shinigami are so keen on doing.” Grimmjow reached up, hooking the folded stack of the fan in the crux of his forefinger, no more hiding expressions for Urahara. He was going to <em> enjoy </em> this.</p><p>“I exercise my saintly patience. I last until this egg either hatches or is in a condition I can take it back...hell, I'll even wear the stupid meat suit the <em> entire time </em> unless I'm on a hunt. But in return?” His grin widened, “In return you're going to have to answer a single question without bringin' your weasel-words into it. You don't get to know what it is either, or when I'll ask it....'cause if <em> my </em> saintly patience is going to get called into question then <em> so is yours </em>.”</p><p>“You seem pretty confident this isn't just reverse psychology just to get you in the gigai...or being on your level best behaviour.”</p><p>Grimmjow sighed heavily, “yeah? I <em> am </em> confident because I'd already made up my mind to put up with that shit before I'd even come here. What? You don't think <em> I know </em> what's riding on this? I'm one of Lorde Tier Harribel's <em> Espada </em>! The kind that actually MEANS something and not that bullshit Aizen played around with!”</p><p>He would have flared his reiatsu then, just to remind Urahara that he wasn't some punk talking bigger than what he could bring down. He would have, but that much energy had a chance of harming the egg if he wasn't careful, maybe even cracking the barriers and complicating matters. Absent that he could always do things the old fashioned way and pin Urahara to the ground but....that wasn't an action that would translate well towards a Shinigami. This was also Urahara's den....<em> nest </em>...a space where Grimmjow was the guest. It was a welcome he couldn't test so hard so soon.</p><p>He watched the Shinigami staring back at him and knew the man was smart enough to figure out some of what was going through his head. Urahara in turn had cleared his throat, putting on his best disarming smile.</p><p>“You drive a hard wager you know, but what if I end up winning?” Perplexingly he'd left Grimmjow holding his fan, arms out in a wide shrug. “So? If you win I'll answer one question plainly. Seems fair. But....” That sly grin was back, “If I win? You ask this question anyways only you also tell me why you've asked it, just as plainly.”</p><p>“You know... I should break this thing out of spite...” Grimmjow wiggled the fan.</p><p>“Am I to take it you're considering agreeing to a wager then?”</p><p>Should he? The egg was frail but with the right quality of feeding he could get it stable enough to make the trip back. Hell, if Kurosaki returned soon they could cut that time in half and maybe even get the thing to hatch or something, that had been what he was hoping in the first place anyways. The guy was comparable to high-class Espada, maybe even a Vasto Lorde, as much as that fact infuriated Grimmjow. He lived in this world too so he wasn't effected in the same way Grimmjow was.</p><p>He could last till Kurosaki returned. The sap would then do his stupid hero-thing and help out without even being asked. Grimmjow could <em> count </em> on that. Once he started helping then...hell this bet was too easy to win. Too easy was a bad sign, especially the cost of losing. Sure, Urahara would hear his question and Grimmjow could even bring himself to speak his reasons but... it was a question that wouldn't get answered. Could he <em> take </em> coming so close only to have the door shut in his face? No, he could just ask a meaningless question instead and say that it was meaningless right to the Shinigami's face....that made the stakes of the whole thing....pointless.... <em> that </em> was the trick. </p><p>“Now you're just trying to save face... bastard.” He tossed Urahara back his fan, waited until the Shinigami had taken a step back from him. “It's not a wager worth taking, never was.” </p><p>“Who says all wagers have to be worth taking? They could just be interesting what-if's between friends, you know.”</p><p>“We aren't friends, you're a <em> convenience </em>, Urahara....an annoying one.” Grimmjow grit, “you've stalled me long enough anyways. Just tell me you set up comms with Las Noches and I can connect down here.” He reached up to put in his earpiece to emphasize his point, still glaring.</p><p>The Shinigami finally relented, telling Grimmjow to meet him in the lab when he'd finished his call. Fat chance on that but Grimmjow did notice the doors Urahara opened had been practically invisible until activated. He wondered just how many points of entry there were to this “bunker” or if the ladder was the only real exit. That line of thought resulted in the start of a circuit of the bunker area, searching for little interruptions of the barriers against the walls. </p><p>Grimmjow was a good distance away from where Urahara had gone before he'd tapped the earpiece three times, waiting with the mild static.</p><p>“Go for Las Noches,” came the eventual husky and baritone voice. </p><p>“Rudbornn? Why the hell doesn't Tier have her comm?”</p><p>“<em> Lorde </em> Harribel is dealing with a problem in the lower tunnels an-”</p><p>Grimmjow rolled his eyes, “the comms can't get wet, I know. Just tell her I checked in. The egg's fine and Urahara is annoying as usual...and <em> yes </em> he has the supply list too.” He grimaced a little, pulling the bit of scratched up leather out of his pocket. </p><p>“No incidents? I'm surprised, Jagerjaquez.” He could just <em> hear </em> the sarcastic amusement in Rudbornn's voice.</p><p>“Yeah? It's almost as if I know what the hell I'm <em> doing </em>, Rudbornn, what a shock!” Grimmjow laughed and wanted nothing more than to strangle him with his own entrails. “Things still calm over there?” He stopped in his walking, holding his breath a little.</p><p>“For the most part,” there was a thready concern there. “Things aren't going to fall apart the moment you leave, you're barely here anyways an-”</p><p>“Don't, Rudbornn... just <em> don't </em> alright? That's not what I'm asking.”</p><p>“......you've only been gone a few hours, Jagerjaquez, that thing isn't going to just appear now that you've gone. Did it fright-” a heavy silence fell within the static as Rudborn seemed to expect a reaction from him that never came. “It did... didn't it?”</p><p>“..not like you think but... rare days, yeah.”</p><p>“Lorde Harribel hasn't tightened patrols yet.”</p><p>“<em> Good </em>, if she does everyone's liable to think the worst and panic.”</p><p>There was another long moment of static on the line and then Rudbornn's concerned hum.</p><p>“You think it'll come for the egg?”</p><p>Grimmjow ran both hands through his hair, momentarily wondering why one side was crusty till he remembered the crawler.</p><p>“No,” he sighed, “I think we spooked it as much as it spooked us. I doubt it'll even try a pass at Las Noches unless it's bored and wants to know where we came from. Tch, that thing didn't even...didn't even <em> feel </em> like a Hollow, not like any I've ever come across.”</p><p>“Another abomination?”</p><p>“Maybe... you know what? Bug Tier about that n' then bug the toads down in Octava regardless of what she says. Maybe they'll remember if Szayel was working on something like it. We did come across an old Hooleer model too so it could be those things escaped together and Fins was just fuckin' with us when he said he trapped the Hooleer. Who the hell knows. Just if it <em> did </em> then it won't be circling back at all.”</p><p>“What if you're wrong and it comes for the egg?”</p><p>“Pft, even if it does we're in the Human World. The Shinigami and the Quincy will turn that thing to paste before it can even reach us. You really think I don't know when to <em> lay low </em>, Rudbornn? Fuck, you n' everyone else tonight.”</p><p>“Well, it's <em> you </em> , Jaegerjaquez, one has to wonder. I'm more concerned with the Shinigami thinking this thing could be an attack from <em> us </em>.”</p><p>That had Grimmjow rubbing his temples, “it's Tier's problem if it happens, she's got it covered. I asked that too.”</p><p>“What about the Quincy?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You said there were Quincy around, have they sensed you? The egg?”</p><p>Grimmjow growled, “fuck off n' let me worry about that if it happens, Rudborrn. Jaegerjaquez <em> out </em>.”</p><p>He ended the call, plucking out the earpiece.</p><p>“Dammit.”</p><p>No doubt Rudbornn's report of the call would include phantom Quincy but it wasn't as if Tier was under an impression he couldn't handle <em> Quincy </em> . He'd taken on the Jagdarmee, completely obliterated their captain in one strike even while he'd been using that freakish angel-thing the Sternritter had going on. Then he'd handled that...that god-touched windbag Askin WHILE Yhwach was still kicking around lending his <em> cheating </em> powers to all his favourite little minions. That “Elite” Quincy that had done nothing but run from him like prey and stooped to poisoning him as a means of escape. </p><p>Yeah, he'd handled Askin...it didn't really matter that Urahara had healed him first or....set up the killing blow... arranged an extraction for when things had become so toxic none of them could even breathe let alone stand. Grimmjow had been the one to chase Askin down and test the waters, put himself in harm's way <em> first </em> to get to that point like any Guía worth a damn should. The others had just been cowards, too timid to get the job done right. Too weak.</p><p>Grimmjow glared over in the direction of Urahara, the door to the lab no more than a distant glow now that they were on opposite ends of the bunker. He felt one of his teeth crack a little.</p><p>Urahara still had yet to square up on the deal they'd made six years ago too but even Grimmjow had to admit his asking price had been a long-shot. Of course if the Shinigami <em> had </em> kept up his end of the bargain in a more timely manner neither Grimmjow nor the egg would be in the Human World at all. </p><p>Accident... disaster...</p><p>Grimmjow could still see pieces of Nel's armband flying and the horrified look on her face as she realized just how much of a liability she was about to be in the fight against <em> that thing </em>. He could still feel the rapid leak of her reiatsu, a ticking clock till she went from a full-grown warrior more than worthy of being called an Espada down to a tiny pipsqueak with barely any power at all.</p><p>Kicking her into a rift had been the only thing he could think of at the time. He hadn't expected Nel to try and stash the egg with Kurosaki but...he couldn't blame her either, he might have done the same.</p><p>Nel needed a more permanent solution and that Orihime woman's power wasn't going to cut it, not without the risk of affecting Nel's memories.</p><p>“Tch, yeah, most of this is your fault,” Grimmjow muttered quietly in Urahara's general direction.</p><p>He completed his first inspection of the bunker area feeling pleasantly vindictive; more than ready to call one of Urahara's bluffs and see just how badly the Shinigami had underestimated him.</p><p>Grimmjow just hoped he could stop himself from enjoying it too much.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Although it'll be explained in a bit more detail later, eh... Hollow Glossary time? </p><p>facción(es): "faction(s)" a small but tightly knit group of Hollows that travel and hunt together following a Guía. Usually consists of 3-5 members but sometimes up to 10. When multiple facciónes gather together it's deemed a Pack, with the Pack Leader being one of the Guía from the collected facciónes.</p><p>Guía: "Guide" typically the most protective, aggressive, and most capable combatant of a facción. A Guía's primary purpose is to organize the rest of the facción into a cohesive hunting team and to push them into being as strong as possible. A stronger facción means better meals and better protection for the individuals. Knowing the capabilities of each member of the group also allows for the Guía to back off an encounter or hunt if the prey is more than the group can handle.</p><p>Primera: "First" A Guía's second in command and the first one they turn to when group cohesion needs more thought and less action, their confidant; able to keep the others in line when tempers flair. An arbitrator, the first one the rest of the facción turns to if there's discontent with the Guía or if the Guía is absent. A Primera is typically of comparable strength to the Guía for this reason or else the two share a deep trust/understanding with one another.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Juegos de Saludo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Karin woke to dry-mouth and a splitting headache.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An </span>
  <em>
    <span>all-over</span>
  </em>
  <span> ache really.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Miss Kurosaki?” She heard Tessai call quietly from nearby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A small tilt of her head put the man in her line of sight, sitting patiently against the wall with a small tray for his teamug. “Yeah?” Karin winced, not even about to try to sit up for now. She settled for lifting her arms up instead, gingerly flexing her fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Movement was back. Her forearm taped together with some butterfly bandages; the sheen of some kind of ointment on her skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How are you feeling?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not great, Mr. Tessai... not great.” Her hands had gone to her temples then, rubbing small circles, “did that lady and the other Shinigami make out alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Indeed. Mr. Himawari said she left before the three of you did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.... um... was.. he the guy I was assisting or the one that saved our bacon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin looked over just in time to see that disapproving look on Mr. Tessai's face, “the one you were assisting. Grimmjow was the one to step in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That stopped her short, “he's here?” She asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tessai nodded, “downstairs, the manager is currently having to </span>
  <em>
    <span>deal</span>
  </em>
  <span> with him,” he sighed. Pulling out his phone, he flipped the old thing open and punched a few buttons. “Said to leave them alone for about an hour to settle him in.” Tessai angled the screen to her a moment to indicate he was only passing along a text he'd been sent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh... something wrong? Mr. Urahara's going to be okay isn't he?” Karin didn't know Urahara's skills first hand but since learning Grimmjow was the sixth ranked of Aizen's Espada she couldn't help but be on edge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Tessai closed his phone and set it on the tray, “honestly? I think it will take more than an hour for Kisuke to get him under control.” The look on his face said that was saying something. “Grimmjow is a foul-mouthed hellion with an even fouler temper. Showing himself to Mr. Himawari earlier put him in a mood.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems... appropriate. Considering why he's here.” Karin tenderly pressed against her stomach, finding the same treatment that had been applied to her arm. Everything ached but considering what she remembered it was a wonder she didn't hurt worse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You should rest a while longer,” Tessai sighed. He'd been around the shop too long to know that request was fairly useless. Karin, at least, took things slow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, I might not be feeling the best, Mr. Tessai, but not bad enough that I can't sit up.” She grunted, the room spinning a moment till she'd braced herself. “And...heh... before I forget,” Karin looked over at the man with a half smile. “Those net cartridges can be thrown... just need 'em a bit stronger for... whatever that Hollow classed at. Didn't hold that long but...the warning light worked at least.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tessai blinked behind his glasses then broke out into a quiet chuckle, “always on task, Miss Kurosaki.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He brought over the tray, taking his phone and mug with him. Karin assumed to get her a cup of tea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She found she could use one. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>- - -</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tessai had activated the lift down to the lab.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin stood alone and nervous on the platform as it moved. Dropping down the ladder had been an option but it was too much of a distance to cover unguarded, not when she had no idea what the situation down below was like.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>A mood,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tessai had called it. She didn't know what that meant other than things were apparently safe enough that she could go down to the bunker now. Urahara had texted up asking for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had to meet the Arrancar at some point. Grimmjow, she had to meet </span>
  <em>
    <span>Grimmjow</span>
  </em>
  <span> at some point.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Orihime's little comments about being happy he was alive and the indications that she was intimidated but not fearful were enough to give Karin some hope. Urahara had warned her he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>surly</span>
  </em>
  <span> after all. Maybe that was another reason he'd wanted Tessai to stay back? It sounded as though Tessai approved of Grimmjow about as much as he'd approved of Jinta's “rebel” phase. How Tessai had dealt with </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> still had Jinta bristling. Having the same attitude with Grimmjow seemed about as smart as playing paddle ball near a doomsday button.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin took in a steadying breath and immediately regretted it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A horrid chemical smell was wafting up through the elevator shaft that got stronger the moment the platform hit bottom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Urahara?!” Karin had her sleeve to her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Everything's fine!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened?” She passed by the mortuary cabinets into the main room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara stood slouched at what looked like an overly large fume hood. The doors were latched shut but it still didn't stop the smell...or the sight inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that-?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked at the mess in the fume hood and back at Karin, “nah, just the gigai. The fleshy bits didn't hold up so I have to strip it and start over. On the bright side, the bones survived!” Urahara grinned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> is some Junji Itō levels of nightmare-fuel...” Karin managed to tear her gaze away after a moment. “Is Grimmjow... alright?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He's fine,” Urahara thumbed out to the training area, “he's out there somewhere exploring. It's going to take some time to get the gigai ready again.” He hummed a moment then grabbed a black, zippered pouch from a nearby box of them. “Here, go introduce yourself and help him with this. I need a more accurate reading from him.... flat out refused the first time.” Urahara gestured then to what was in the fume hood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I'm guessing this was the </span>
  <em>
    <span>mood</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tessai was talking about?” Karin opened the pouch, taking brief stock of the contents. It sort of looked like a Holter monitor but with even more wires and nodes bundled up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh? No, unfortunately I ended up overstepping a bit.” It was only after she stared at him a moment that Urahara relented, “nothing harsh! Heh. I tried a friendly wager, one to give him more of an incentive to stay on task, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>drive</span>
  </em>
  <span>, if you will.” Urahara rubbed the back of his neck, gaze on the ceiling. “Turned out he didn't need it and he's a lot quicker at reasoning than the last time I dealt with him...a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> quicker.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin watched as Urahara's face scrunched up in thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So by overstepping you mean you insulted him?” She looked at him flatly, “well that makes sense.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Insult implies intent, Miss Kurosaki, and I do intend to make up for it. Action speaks much better with him than an apology.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin held up the pouch, “so this is why you're getting me to do this then?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh? No, not at all. It's just an introduction... and you've helped out in the clinic enough that I'm confident you can set up that monitor. Grimmjow will have to wear it at least until I'm ready to re-work the organics for the gigai.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Riiiight.” Karin continued to eye him a little longer before heading out into the training bunker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn't expect to see Grimmjow right outside the lab door but when she stretched out her senses she couldn't find him at all. He... was still in the bunker wasn't he? Urahara didn't seem concerned but then again what if the Arrancar had slipped past him?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin again focused on her senses as she moved further towards the centre of the space. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She might have still been developing her skills with sensing but with as much reiryoku as she suspected Grimmjow had the spiritual pressure of his resting reiatsu alone should have been heavy against hers. Even with his presence masked until it was inconsequential she should have been able to feel someone else was present in such a relatively small space.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> still inside the bunker then he was probably watching her, maybe even had been nearby during her conversation with Urahara if he was being as cautious as she imagined about the egg.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The egg. Yeah, he was in the bunker... somewhere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Part of her reasoned going in the direction of the tent would </span>
  <em>
    <span>certainly</span>
  </em>
  <span> get his attention but it would also be decidedly </span>
  <em>
    <span>not good.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Not good for her health and not good if she wanted any kind of rapport with Grimmjow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still nothing. She didn't even feel like she was being watched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Calling for him seemed... wrong? She couldn't place why, not until she recalled Urahara's suggestion that she smell like Ichigo;</span>
  <em>
    <span> his rival</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin froze. Rival... but was that as a rival warrior or as a rival predator? Either was likely possible, both, and that made the possibility that Grimmjow was sizing her up all the more likely. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gonna have to disappoint you, if you're thinking I'm like him,” Karin said. She kept her voice at a normal volume. “Not even close.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not </span>
  <em>
    <span>orange</span>
  </em>
  <span> either.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin turned sharply behind her, still feeling a damp heat against her ear and a faint scent of mint.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah,” well that got his attention at least. Grimmjow was fast, too fast. “He's just weird like that. Got a lot of crap for it in school.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, why?” Karin didn't bother to look that way, not when Grimmjow's voice came from a different direction a half-second later. “Humans really just that foolish?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin's brows furrowed, “I don't...know what you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, I mean: do they have a death wish?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin looked up then, not expecting Grimmjow to actually still be where he spoke from, but he was. The gigai and the photograph had given her a preview yet the Arrancar sitting relaxed on the outcrop above had a </span>
  <em>
    <span>presence</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Grimmjow also wouldn't have been out of place at a music venue, garbed in a somewhat form-fitting, black ensemble from head to toe. His boots had some sort of metal work at the heel she couldn't make out. The Arrancar's sword was tucked into the tighter of two white belts at his waist. His shirt was left peeled open to expose his chest and a wide burn scar marring it. A shortly cropped jacket matched the belts, black on the inside, so that the wide spread of his collar and where he'd rolled his sleeves contrasted starkly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She also fully understood his confusion. His hair was a rather breath stealing hue of sky-blue spiked up with loose strands of it falling down in a few places. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“More like... orange isn't a normal colour here in the Human World.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Even more of a reason to not fuck with a guy like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, it's an </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossible</span>
  </em>
  <span> colour to have without dying your hair.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow didn't seem convinced so Karin shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I'm Karin, by the way, Karin Kurosaki.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again he didn't seem convinced. He didn't even offer his name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um...” she held up the monitor pouch, “I'm supposed to help you with this. Get some readings to help fix the gigai, er... strengthen it? Something like th- HEY!” Karin watched as Grimmjow stood, stepping backwards off the outcrop.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There wasn't a sound as he hit the ground on the other side, if he even did at all, and by the time Karin had rounded the corner the Arrancar was gone again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Mood</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Karin had expected something completely different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What's with the hair questions?” Get him talking again, get him to show himself again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe mention of the monitor had scared him off, Urahara had said he'd refused before. The thought brought a subtle twitch to her brow; big, scary Arrancar got spooked by a harmless checkup. She'd seen better behaved </span>
  <em>
    <span>children</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the clinic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So... what's this about... a rivalry between you and my brother?” Maybe his interest before hadn't merely been about sibling hair colour.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bark of a laugh she heard carried with it an edge of mania, one she'd heard time and again from Hollows.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> what he calls it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin felt a chill up her spine, like she'd stepped on a sensitive topic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, he owes me an end to a fight we started nine years back. Kept getting </span>
  <em>
    <span>interrupted.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Grimmjow's voice was behind her, getting closer. “Kept getting </span>
  <em>
    <span>delayed</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” closer still. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was difficult not to turn around but Karin imagined if she did then he'd be gone again. She'd have to start over and after the incident with her Zanpaktuō something about this situation felt far too familiar. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tōsen...Ulquiorra... fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nnoitra,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Grimmjow spat, “then the damn Quincy but six years on? Heh, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> hasn't shown back up to face me, like he can just </span>
  <em>
    <span>forfeit</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin only knew one of the names, Kaname Tōsen, one of Aizen's conspirators and a former Gotei captain. He was dead now but the other two names were unfamiliar, probably people from back then, other Arrancar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, bastard even said he'd fight me as maaany times as I wanted.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The artificial moonlight cast shadows on the ground. Karin could see Grimmjow's looming behind her, the only indication that he was even there. Even </span>
  <em>
    <span>knowing</span>
  </em>
  <span> where he was she couldn't get a bead on him. This wasn't just her amateur skill at sensing spirits, Grimmjow's control over his reiatsu was just that good, impossibly so. He was allowing her to </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span> that skill in showing his shadow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Coming from Ichigo?” Karin offered, “I'd say.. that's a rivalry... he doesn't like to fight if he can help it.” It was a bit of a lie, he did enjoy a good spar with friends or their dad. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>fight</span>
  </em>
  <span> though, no, not at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow's laugh was slower this time, coming after a few seconds of pause.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh now that's bullshit! You've never crossed blades with him then have you?” The shadow had yet to move, “if you had you'd feel it. All aching teeth and ripping apart at the seams till you can rile him up enough that he'll finally show his mask. Guy's got a blood-lust he'll </span>
  <em>
    <span>drown you</span>
  </em>
  <span> in and smile while he does it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still sounds like a rivalry,” he was talking about White, Ichigo still didn't have full control back then and it was probably why he'd not told the rest of the family about Grimmjow. “And I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> fought him, he helps me train when we're both home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin slowly turned her head, a little surprised Grimmjow still stood where he was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that he was closer she could make out a few more details that she couldn't before, namely the markings around the Arrancar's eyes. Even in low light the brilliant teal was unmistakable, shaped just slightly different than the photograph. Each wing had been a simple swoop before yet now the edges had an additional pair of shallow peaks that made the shape more geometric. It left Karin wondering if Arrancar facial markings changed over time or if it had been something the camera simply couldn't pick up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow's partial mask drew some awe as well. His right cheek was covered with the corresponding jawbones of a large feline, sharp teeth unbroken. Both halves of it seemed bound to movement with their more human counterparts; a rather unsettling effect when he spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So knowing you're no enemy to him or anyone here you can really stop trying to intimidate me. I already get that you can break me in half, you don't need to go rubbing it in my face.” She held up the pouch again, “now are you still gonna keep running or can we get this over with?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The look on his face had gone from menacingly smug to annoyed in record time and the chill running up Karin's spine hadn't abated. If anything she felt like she might have just overstepped as Urahara had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Retaining her composure, her stillness, as Grimmjow's eyes flicked from her own to the pouch in her hand quickly became a monumental task. This new look was one of familiarity, she'd seen it in the photo and she'd seen it on the faces of kids coming in for their first physicals. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It's just a monitor,” Karin shrugged slowly, careful to thumb open the half-unzipped cover to show him a little of what was inside before reaching up with her other hand to open it fully. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow's attention was on the piece of equipment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I put some sticky things on you and clip on some wires, that simple” Karin offered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sticky....things?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin plucked out a plastic bag containing the electrode pads. She made a show of selecting one and peeling off the backing before moving her kosode aside just enough to stick it under her collarbone. “Then you just attach one of these,” she pulled out a lead in the same way, securing the end of the wire to the metal contact point like it were a snap button. “Easy-peezy. The annoying part is prepping the places where the pads go then having to wear it a while.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tentatively she held out the plastic bag, only earning a still skeptical eye from the Arrancar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Doesn't look like any monitor I've ever seen... what's the catch?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She blinked a moment, second guessing herself a little. This </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> one of Urahara's devices, there probably was a catch somewhere but probably her idea of “a catch” and Grimmjow's were worlds apart. His comment on its own had her gut twist a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let's see, probably going to be in the placement for these things...” Karin opened the pouch up wider, moving the monitor aside in search of whatever diagram there was for setup. She paused, spotting a small memo book and pen. They were expected items to find left accidentally but not these particular ones. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara could have easily explained away the “Kurosaki Clinic” pen as having come from the kind of general pen-theft that went on between friends. The memo pad, however, was unmistakably Ichigo's. It was part of a little stationary set she'd lucked across last year and gifted him, one that very much wasn't Urahara or Tessai's style. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Pray you take note!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”was written in English with a fancy hipster font across the front while a cut-out stamp of Shakespeare's head hung out in the corner wearing a tiny pair of pixel shades.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright and the catch iiiisss....” Karin finally got her hands on the bit of paper she needed, opening it so that Grimmjow could see too. “Oh, well that's-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nope.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Honestly, by this point Karin didn't need to turn to know that Grimmjow was gone again. He had a bit of reason to, at least. She just hoped that reason wasn't a complete deal breaker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nearly an hour later and Karin had only succeeded in maybe, </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe,</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting Grimmjow to consider her harmless enough that he had slowed down and started toying with her. She saw him more than once duck around the corner of a rocky outcrop or boulder, a ploy that had worked the first two times he'd done it but Karin was on to him now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both times she'd fallen for that and tried to catch up to him. Grimmjow hadn't been there. Karin instead felt a sharp “thump” to the back of her neck as she rounded the corner and only caught another fleeting sight of the Arrancar as she turned around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Dead,</span>
  </em>
  <span> her spirit had sighed in disappointment. Karin didn't need the commentary, she'd gotten the message after the first thump as clearly as the resulting bruise would be.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>This is pathetic,</span>
  </em>
  <span> the spirit grumbled again and again as Karin tried to keep more of an eye behind her this time around. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe if he truly tried to kill you you'd be better at this.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don't hear you offering any advice.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm giving it: you're pathetic. Stop being pathetic.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wisdom for the ages, thanks for that,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Karin rolled her eyes, already regretting that her spirit was more talkative. Grimmjow again seemed to have completely vanished. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara was over near the door of the lab, leaning against the wall with a fresh cup of tea. Idly he waved when she spotted him, “looks like the two of you are having fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin groaned, hanging her head. A second later there was yet another “thump” to the back of her neck and this time she heard Grimmjow cackling as he passed by.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>GODDAMNIT!!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara nearly spit out his tea. Her spirit was just as riotous with laughter. It all grated on Karin's last nerves. Bad night. This was a BAD night if ever there was one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin turned back to pin her eyes on Grimmjow once again sitting up on an outcrop like he owned the place. His shoulders were twitching in quieter laughter now, chin resting on his knuckles while the rest of him was sprawled out in what Karin could only think of as “macho arrogance.” Grimmjow was at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>looking</span>
  </em>
  <span> at her....smug as shit but still paying attention. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Ohhh, so the snack is finally baring her teeth a little? He's noticiiiing...</span>
  </em>
  <span> the spirit cooed in the most pleased tone Karin had yet heard from her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn't</span>
  </em>
  <span> he notice? It hadn't occurred to Karin until then that this wasn't just some juvenile fit Grimmjow was pitching, not entirely anyways. She could almost kick herself for not remembering sooner; Hollows were territorial. Not only was she the sibling of his rival, whatever that really meant, but if Urahara was right then Grimmjow could be assuming Karakura and everything in it was Ichigo's. Grimmjow was probably trying to figure out where </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> fit in with all this “teasing” he was doing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin, in a huff, made her way over to Urahara, ignoring his sputtering insistence that his laughter was all in good fun. That might have been true but it didn't stop the sting. She put the monitor down along with her sword before starting to peel out of her kosode. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was something to be said about the differences between a still-living, Substitute Shinigami and one that had developed their powers once they'd crossed over: a little something of the Shinigami that sparked them would always remain with the substitute. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For Ichigo it manifested in the first form his Zanpaktuō had ever taken; simply a larger version of Rukia's sealed blade. Even after he'd awakened his own spirit, Zangetsu, the blade still echoed that connection to Sode no Shirayuki as a long coil of tattered bandage trailing from the hilt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin, by contrast, displayed her connection to Urahara and Benihime through the addition to her Shinigami uniform.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Black and white layers of the kosode crumbled in a heap near the other two items leaving Karin garbed in what amounted to a crimson tank top. The tear from the scorpion Hollow was now in much the same state her skin was: slowly stitching itself back together unlike the rest of the garment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin glanced over to Urahara, pleased when he simply kept drinking his tea rather than give some kind of commentary.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Five minutes,” she looked back to Grimmjow, “I tag you within five minutes and you wear the monitor till it gets whatever reading it needs to fix the gigai.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Arrancar barked out a laugh, “and why tha hell would I even agree to that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, you think I can catch you? I like my odds even better now,” she grinned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> got a glare from Grimmjow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What the hell was she doing, hadn't Urahara already tried something like this?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, can't lay a finger on m-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin took off directly for the Arrancar as fast as she could. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruthless, her brother had advised, give as good as she got from a spirit with Hollow traits to earn its respect or submission. Maybe it would work on an </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hollow. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The voice already felt thrilled, holding tight to that last scant image of Grimmjow before he'd disappeared from his seat. That look of annoyed disinterest was probably still on his face and the spirit was making sure Karin got a view of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You're pathetic to him,</span>
  </em>
  <span> the spirit jeered, </span>
  <em>
    <span>first he saw of you was that scared little snack. I'm surprised he didn't devour you himself!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin ignored her. She already knew it was true, she'd faced an enemy more powerful than she was used to and she'd crumbled like a wobbling Jenga tower. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Panicked</span>
  </em>
  <span> and there was nothing she could do to get back that moment, getting stung had just been the icing on the cake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow's first dodge was obviously slow and towards the back half of the bunker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin followed just as she had before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment he vanished from her immediate sight Karin twisted in the air, reaching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow had once again made to tag the back of her neck, just as she thought he would, only this time Karin was going to use that to her advantage.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Arrancar was able to flit backwards immediately. Reiatsu broke around her like water currents, knocking her back with a heart-stopping suddenness. Karin landed harshly against another of the outcrops only to bound off just as quickly before Grimmjow followed through with a second swipe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin skidded to a stop against the ground expecting a third from him but the Arrancar had backed off. The look on his face had been priceless. He'd been </span>
  <em>
    <span>intrigued. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You've just raised the bar, snack, he might start playing for real!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tried to ignore her Zanpaktuō, the spirit was probably right anyways. Grimmjow was hardly exerting any effort. He was worlds faster and no doubt saw through the reason for the time limit; five minutes was currently about how long Karin could keep up her top speed. She could use shunpo, a little, but one “step” was all Karin could manage without falling completely exhausted. That little technique she'd keep to herself until she was certain she could get a tag in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin looked around, soon spotting Grimmjow squatting atop yet another high perch.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're too slow,” he smirked. “I was expecting that famous Kurosaki speed, heh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pft, so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lunged again. Unsurprisingly Grimmjow didn't move. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That should have been more of a red flag than it was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin couldn't comprehend what had happened until several seconds after she'd hit the ground on the other side and became aware of a painful grinding in her ribs when she gasped for breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Told you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Not helping!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He'd waited until the last possible moment to leap, just enough that Karin had sailed entirely beneath him. It felt like he'd smacked an open palm right into her back, she'd </span>
  <em>
    <span>bounced</span>
  </em>
  <span> off the top of the rock before falling. Cracked ribs for sure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin staggered to her feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Too. Slow.” Grimmjow repeated, still staring down at her from his perch. His eyes caught the artificial light, glinting momentarily blue-white in the dark. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So. What.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So? You'll never tag me like that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She managed a bit more composure, enough to smirk, “don't need to be fast, just need to get a little more creative.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A slow, wicked smile crept across the Arrancar's lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>- - -</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara ended up having to do more than a little healing kidō before Karin could help with the monitor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin stood still, feeling her ribs grind back into place and solidify. It felt good to breathe again. She found herself looking over to Grimmjow occasionally. He had come down to the ground level finally, staying just outside the light from the lab door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Casual.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was as if they hadn't just been running around playing full contact tag.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fun, in a strange way, but it still had Karin's lips pressed tightly together and shoulders squared up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She'd lost in spectacular fashion, Grimmjow proving his point about swiftness by remaining well within reach the entire time. All he'd done was dodge and dance out of the way unless Karin had been particularly inattentive. Any time Grimmjow had ended up in a blind spot like that he'd immediately given her another flick like before. Felt like a punch. Sometimes it was a strike with the heel of his palm and she'd gone flying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You two look like you've hit it off,” Urahara chuckled softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin cast him a glance over her shoulder. She heard Grimmjow snort.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, am I wrong? No deaths, no serious injury.” Urahara had moved from her ribs to her elbow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That Karin had lost and Grimmjow </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> agreed to wear the monitor went unsaid. Whatever his reasons for that she wasn't about to get him second guessing his decision.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You'd try to kick me out,” the Arrancar grumbled. He had started to examine the monitor pieces on his own, frowning a little as he did so. Karin noticed it didn't take long before he'd found the Shakespeare memo pad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, wow, </span>
  <em>
    <span>thanks?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Karin sent an incredulous glare up at Urahara who only grinned in reply.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not-so-minor first aid now finished, Urahara headed off back into the lab area to finish cleaning up the bone armature of the gigai. Karin was on his heels.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alcohol swabs and exfoliant paper?” She headed to the drawer he indicated only to pause with her fingers lightly on the handle. “...is Ichigo ok? His... um... notepad was in the bag.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Urahara hummed lightly, “fine as he usually is. Probably just keeps it in there for convenience.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What for?” Karin found what she needed, shutting the drawer a little harder than she meant to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ichigo hiding things wasn't unusual, he'd thankfully been doing it less now that everything was out in the open. “Less” still wasn't good, not after the text conversation about the claw marks on his wall. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A side project he needed some help with. I'll fill you in on it a bit later,” Urahara picked up a hose, “probably best to pay attention to our guest for now while he's in a better mood. Ah, and before I forget: just use the alcohol swabs when it comes to the last two nodes.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That answer wasn't enough to set her at ease. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just... if I can help out...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, there's no need for that.” He flashed a satisfied grin as he opened the fume hood, “the whole thing worked like a charm!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin found herself grinning back only out of habit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow was still in the same spot when she stepped out again with the new supplies. The Arrancar was occupying himself now by skeptically examining the gel adhesive on the back of an electrode pad. A brief flash of blue-white let her know he'd looked up to see her coming over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wordlessly Karin picked up the diagram, still expecting him to bolt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How's this thing supposed to work anyways?” Grimmjow frowned at the pad stuck to his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin shrugged, “Humans have this fancy gadget called an electrocardiograph... ECG for short. Measures your heart beats by those little pads picking up electrical signals the heart makes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing on the other hand...” she nodded to the monitor. “Don't know what to call it but I'm guessing it's measuring reiryoku and reiatsu in kindda the same way? Just picking up the pulses.” She shrugged again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow eyed her a little more closely, “you're one of those scientist-types aren't you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pft! Hardly. My sister and I grew up helping our dad in the clinic so I know a bit about this kindda stuff but not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sister... so... there's </span>
  <em>
    <span>three</span>
  </em>
  <span> of you Kurosaki?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The look on Grimmjow's face was one of wide-eyed disbelief. Karin couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing where he was concerned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And... all three of you,” he gestured to her, “do the Substitute Shinigami thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just me and Ichigo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You've got a mask?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin shook her head prompting a quiet “huh” from the Arrancar a few seconds later. Whatever revelation he was musing over Grimmjow wasn't forthcoming with it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Soooo... you wanna go ahead and get this over with?” Karin held up the handful of wipes. “I saw a chair in the lab if tha-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I'm fine out here.” His answer was startlingly abrupt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright...um.. you're not ticklish are you? Need to count ribs so I put these things in the right spots.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow again had taken to staring at her doubtfully to the point Karin wondered if he would even trust her so close to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, let's just get this over with.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin let out a breath she hadn't been aware of holding as Grimmjow shrugged out of his jacket. Surprisingly the “black ensemble” she'd noted earlier was little more than a nicely tailored, sleeveless jumpsuit he soon had peeled to his waist. The large burn scar running near vertical down the middle of his torso to disappear beneath fabric wasn't the only massive scar Grimmjow had collected. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She could only imagine a sword strike being the cause, one that had bit neatly into the base of his neck leaving a crescent scar to wrap his shoulder in the direction of his right armpit. That wound might have taken both head and limb completely off had the strike gone deeper than it had. How the Arrancar was even </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span> after something like that let alone moving as if neither muscle nor bone suffered permanent damage was unreal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It drove home for her why Shinigami considered decapitating Hollows the only sure way to kill them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nnoitra,” Grimmjow said suddenly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin looked up to see him tap the scar at his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That </span>
  <em>
    <span>interruption</span>
  </em>
  <span> I mentioned earlier. Bastard got a cheap shot in. The other scar is your brother's fault.” Neither admission was spoken about with pride, rather that each was a cold fact he lived with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, I didn't mean to stare.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, what's not to stare at? Now, are you gonna </span>
  <em>
    <span>keep</span>
  </em>
  <span> staring or are you gonna put these....these sticky things on me? I'm gettin' bored.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her little squeak of “yes sir” managed to elicit a chuckle from the Arrancar as she began to work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow clearly didn't enjoy the smell of the alcohol pads. He kept trying to lean away each time Karin started on another node location until she found it better to give up and wipe his chest down in all the relevant places at once. Her dad would have been shaking his head but then again Isshin didn't have an impatient Arrancar glaring at him for causing a coughing fit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finding the right placements was a task in its own right. Grimmjow's skin was more akin to the kind of stiff leather found on horse saddles rather than anything human. She had to press in hard, trying and failing to feel out his ribs to the point she considered calling for Urahara to lend a hand. Of course that might have rekindled the Arrancar's earlier “mood” and no one was going to get anything done if that happened, Grimmjow was already getting twitchy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, this is...fierro?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, close. Hierro.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hierro.” She couldn't pronounce it as well, unable to roll her “r's” quite so nicely, but it was close enough to being acceptable that Grimmjow didn't try to correct her if he cared. “You can turn it off right? Or down?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow suddenly stilled. Karin almost missed the wide-eyed expression he'd given her before it slipped back beneath the overly-cautious and annoyed one he'd been giving her the past few minutes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Can't you?” Vaguely she remembered hearing hierro was an ability that turned an Arrancar's skin into something like armour, a literal translation being “iron.” Having seen the look he'd given her maybe that wasn't true. Maybe it was just skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It's.... difficult.” There was an odd tone to his voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Difficult liiiike hard to do? Or difficult like you don't want to have to explain something to me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow was again eyeing her enough that Karin got the impression it may have been both with more of the latter. She was just about to suggest finding another way when she felt a fluttering beneath her fingers, his skin suddenly soft like normal flesh. There was feverish heat too, in contrast to the ambient and even chilled temperature of before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Arrancar was tense, clearly ready to bolt again if this went on too long.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, I'll work quick as I can, alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow only grunted his response. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin was able to get two more of the pads in place before the hierro started coming back despite his efforts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are there shops in Hueco Mundo?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your jacket,” she nodded towards the garment. Maybe he could use the distraction. Grimmjow's cheeks and ears had changed colour somewhat, like the purple beginnings of a bruise. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I made it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You sew?” She couldn't help but smile a little at the image that presented.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don't?” Grimmjow's chuckle didn't do much to hide his discomfort but he was able to relax a little more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Meh, I can, just not that well.” Karin shrugged. “Hollows that sew aren't really something...heh, I mean I never really thought about where Arrancar might get their clothes. Do you guys weave your own fabric too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really. It's gillian-cloth.” He blinked. “You know what Gillians are, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I've seen pictures.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, well Las Noches still has a couple dozen Gillian from the Aizen days. Trained to stick around the place like guard dogs and not eat Arrancar.” He shrugged, “we all figured it was a waste to eat 'em when we didn't have to. Apart from being some basic security they're kindda like....um....” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sheep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, that's the word. You can harvest the outer cloth fairly easy if you want it black or just wait for it to shed if you want white. Handful of dyes to work with but the stuff's a helluva lot more durable than whatever you Shinigami make your uniforms out of.” Grimmjow chuckled genuinely at that, “that stuff goes up in </span>
  <em>
    <span>smoke</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin couldn't disagree. The explanation had also allowed her ample time to complete the setup on his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, I got four more of these to do on your back but </span>
  <em>
    <span>these two</span>
  </em>
  <span> are yours.” She handed him the necessary items, sans the exfoliant paper, as Urahara suggested. “I figure you don't want me anywhere ne-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Figured right.” Grimmjow scowled at the pads and then at the diagram where there was a crudely drawn cylinder in the margin sporting an “x” on either side of the interior. At least this time Grimmjow wasn't darting away to start a new game of tag. Progress.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She moved behind him only enough to get at the places she needed to, staying well within his line of sight. It seemed more a courtesy knowing how skittish he already was. There also wasn't any chance of distracting him like before, not between being close to the back of his neck and Grimmjow dealing with placing the last two electrodes within the hole through his gut.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin worked quick enough to avoid the return of his hierro. Curiously that dark coloration on his face hadn't left and she was beginning to suspect it was him... blushing? Did Arrancar blush?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow shrugged back into his top and jacket once the wires had been snapped on, still keeping an eye on Karin even as she got the monitor running through its initial checks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So how long am I supposed to wear this thing again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Until Urahara can get whatever readings he needs to fix your gigai.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow grumbled something under his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you could have let me put this thing on a while ago, you know.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whatever look he gave her Karin was too engrossed in looking over the monitor's readouts to notice. Mostly it looked like the net readings on her handheld, the mysterious “passive intake” being the only fairly normal numerical value. Everything else was easily four to five times beyond the piddly class-two Hollows she was used to, and this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>at rest</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, scientist-type, I knew it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I just-” Karin turned the monitor more towards him as if it was an explanation all on its own. “This is unreal to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you're easily impressed,” Grimmjow snorted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Some of these are higher than </span>
  <em>
    <span>the egg</span>
  </em>
  <span>, an-” Wait...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin's prolonged silence eventually had Grimmjow rolling his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you're thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>I'm</span>
  </em>
  <span> a Vasto Lorde, then no... n' besides, that egg is underfed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But... what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just what I said, that thing is underfed.” He nodded towards the tent, “or maybe just still underdeveloped... who the fuck knows.” A wry smirk tugged at his lips, “if I were one you'd know it, least I think so if whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kurosaki</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing you've got going on is Hollow enough to sense it. Doubt it though, your brother didn't seem to....but then again at the time all the Lordes in Las Noches had themselves tucked away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin rubbed the back of her neck, “yeah, well, he can't really sense anything that well unless he's actively looking for it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're shittin' me...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, it's true. Probably the downside of... of whatever weirdness we've got going on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah,” Grimmjow snorted, “I've met other Hollows with the same problem. Most of them get eaten because of it. Goes hand in hand with that reiatsu incontinence thing he's got going on too if that's the case.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She fought not to laugh at how Grimmjow had phrased Ichigo's “problem” but it was accurate. “So... what's the matter then? Or is it like needing glasses or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Meh, usually it's because however they developed as crawlers they never learned either skill, and those are the </span>
  <em>
    <span>first</span>
  </em>
  <span> ones you ever learn if you wanna survive. No other crawlers to compete against, ready food supply... the kind of shit that's paradise until you come home to Hueco Mundo and actually gotta start </span>
  <em>
    <span>working </span>
  </em>
  <span>for your meals. By that time you're kindda a one-trick bastard too.” He shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yammy was like that. Couldn't manage his reiatsu, shit with pesquisa.... Aizen only ranked him Décimo because he was all raw power and could smash anything that tried to take a bite outta him....but he was still </span>
  <em>
    <span>dumb as a rock.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Wouldn't waste effort to listen even when Ulquiorra was trying to teach him, and out of </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that was the guy he should have listened to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the second time he'd mentioned that name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ulquiorra...is he some kind of master of... what's </span>
  <em>
    <span>pesquisa?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>HA!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Master,” Grimmjow broke into a small fit of manic laughter which eventually tapered off to the Arrancar raking his fingers back through his hair. “Nah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Master</span>
  </em>
  <span> is the kind of shit I expect from Shinigami, pesquisa is... it's....” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow's lips pursed together, weirdly tiny brows furrowed a moment. “It's... like smell and taste and... a few other things...all rolled together only it's mostly </span>
  <em>
    <span>energy</span>
  </em>
  <span> you're picking up on. You can't be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>master</span>
  </em>
  <span> at smelling things but there are tricks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He chuckled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ulquiorra was a Vasto Lorde. He's dead now,” Grimmjow shrugged, “but the guy was on a whole 'nother level. I don't even know how he did half the shit he did with it </span>
  <em>
    <span>but</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was always worth it to shadow him whenever he was with Yammy. The basics alone helped me and mine get an edge.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow grinned in a way that sent a chill up Karin's spine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So next time I see that brother of yours I'm going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>correct </span>
  </em>
  <span>his little problem before I fight him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're going to train him...so he has a better chance of beating you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, hell yeah. I want him at his </span>
  <em>
    <span>best</span>
  </em>
  <span> when I take him down. Not a real challenge otherwise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Huh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rivalry</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wasn't sure exactly what she'd thought but it sure wasn't anything like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin then recalled the off-brand, banana bubblegum combo she'd experienced from the Hollow earlier. Was that pesquisa? Whatever it had been had come a lot more easily to her than the sensing techniques she'd been learning as part of her Shinigami training.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So... what would you teach him first? About pesquisa, I mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow eyed her a moment, differently than before. Hopefully he wasn't off-put by the sudden question, he'd chilled out quite a bit over the last few minutes now that the ordeal with the monitor was done. Last thing Karin wanted was for him to start feeling like he was getting interrogated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Surprisingly he leaned back a little on one arm, his other held up with thumb and forefinger just barely touching. “I'd ask him if he could see what I'm holding.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um....what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly what I said. What am I holding?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin stared blankly at the space. Nothing was there, not visually anyways. Turning her senses there as well was yielding nothing at all. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was</span>
  </em>
  <span> there something there?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow slowly started to smirk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There's... nothing there at all, is there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, not at all. Tried hard to see something though, didn't you?” He grinned a little wider.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sighed, about to say something when Grimmjow moved his hand closer until Karin had almost gone cross-eyed. Suddenly it was as if a soundless firecracker went off in her face. Sulphur burned her nose and throat, light slamming into her retinas. Her whole body jerked in response, scrambling to get back, to get away. Karin ended up tumbling to the ground clawing at her face as if she could rip away the sudden all-encompassing </span>
  <em>
    <span>taste</span>
  </em>
  <span> of something burning that crawled like a living thing over her skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>WHAT THE SHIT?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Annnnd that's what it feels like when your pesquisa suddenly gets fried,” Grimmjow's tone was wicked and satisfied, Karin could only expect that he was grinning wide enough to match.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That </span>
  <em>
    <span>HURT</span>
  </em>
  <span> you jackass!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course it did! If it didn't you'd either not have a pesquisa or a really shitty one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Karin continued trying to see again through the white spots dancing over her vision. “Why the hell did you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do that?!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> She hissed out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, why else? You start learnin' this shit you're gonna realize reeeeeeal quick how annoyingly useful a reiatsu flair is, even a tiny one like I just used. When you can't close off your pesquisa or get blinded by somethin' stronger-” Grimmjow's foot tapped against her ankle, “-you get munched.” He chuckled, “be grateful I'm not a hungry crawler.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“S- sunnuva...” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tch, stop complaining, headache will go away in a few and you'll be back to normal a bit after.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>jackass,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Karin finally managed to look up at the Arrancar. He was already bored and occupying himself with watching his monitor. “I- ... wait... you're... going to teach me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grimmjow shrugged, “why not? Not like you can learn this from Shinigami. Just teach it to your brother if I miss him and we're square. That's my price, take it or leave it.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sooooo... yeah... quarantine hit hard. I binged all of Bleach (anime, manga, movies, OVA, maybe a novel or two...), got smacked with feels, and then scribbled out a good 75pgs of outline for this monster fic so... enjoy? Or don't lol, up to you. XD Kudos are appreciated but comments even more so!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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